Tehran – The Ministry of Health plans to implement a comprehensive screening program to early detection of the most common but preventable cancers in the country (i.e. breast, neck, colon).
The program will initially be operated in three pilot states: QOM, Isfahan and Mazandaran.
The target group is individuals between 30 and 70 years old, and in some cases, an individual between 40 and 75 years old, Isna cited Jafar Jandaqi, an official at the Ministry of Health, as saying.
Both early and advanced tests of breast, neck and colon cancer are available. He said it will expand nationwide six or seven months after the program is implemented.
It can avoid 40% of cancer. Early detection through screening increases opportunities for successful treatment and improves patient life expectancy, he added.
In other countries, screening programs only target high-risk groups, such as those with a family history of cancer, but the Ministry of Health will implement the aforementioned comprehensive screening programme within the primary health care (PHC) system, from birth to the last year of birth to the last year, allowing the Department of Health to implement the aforementioned comprehensive screening programme for cancer, define treatments, and define the dependencies and care services to maintain home therapy and these services.
The screening program includes a variety of service packages, including prevention, treatment and rehabilitation packages. The Ministry of Health will use modern technologies such as artificial intelligence to further promote diagnosis and provide services, officials said.
According to the Ministry of Health, cancer is the leading cause of early deaths in the country.
Cancer accounts for more than 55,000 deaths per year. Of the 122,000 premature deaths (under 70,000), approximately 34,000 deaths and 11,000 deaths of 85,000 very premature deaths (under 50), various cancers are caused by.
The latest National Cancer Census shows that the number of new cancer cases in Iran is expected to increase to 160,000 by the Iranian calendar year (March 2025) in 1404 (March 2025).
The first ten most common cancers in Iran are breast, prostate, colon, stomach, lungs, bladder, thyroid, uterus, brain and spinal cancers. The most common cancers in Iranian women include the breast, colon, thyroid, stomach, uterus, leukemia, ovaries, brain and spine, lungs and esophagus. Currently, around 250,000 Iranians live with cancer.
Recent results
Iran launched the first national production line for its electroporation system and became the first country in Asia to acquire advanced cancer treatment techniques.
The inauguration ceremony for the Iranian device was held at the University of Tehran on Monday, the IRNA reported.
Home-grown electrochemotherapy ablation systems (new methods for targeted treatment of cancerous tumors) are important outcomes that rely primarily on domestic technical knowledge and global standards.
Electroporation systems use electrical pulses to increase the permeability of cancer cells, greatly improving the effectiveness of anticancer agents.
In February, an Iranian knowledge-based company was able to develop a new method for the synthesis of Technetium (99MTC) Tilmanocept, a radiopharmaceutical diagnostic imaging agent used to determine lymph nodes that may be excreted from tumors.
Since 2013, the US is the only manufacturer of the radiopharmaceutical, the IRNA reported.
The lymphatic system is known as one of the major conduits of cancer metastasis. In patients with breast, lung and genital cancer, accurate detection of lymph node involvement is important for surgeons.
Thanks to this incredible achievement, approximately 90% of the various cancer patients in the country have access to more affordable and more accurate methods for cancer diagnosis and treatment.
After successfully passing through the preclinical phase, the drug entered the clinical phase.
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