Oncologist alarmed as younger people presenting with cancer

 

An oncologist says an alarming number of young people in Jamaica are being diagnosed with various types of cancer.

 

Dr. Jamie Lee Foote, head of the Oncology Centre at Mandeville Regional Hospital, described the situation as scary, noting that these young people are in their twenties.

 

"For example, multiple myeloma, which is usually a disease of the elderly. We're seeing younger and younger patients. This affects the bone and it can cause significant morbidity, bone pain and even affect your ability to walk. We have early presentation, patients in their twenties, of breast cancer, you know, and so it's affecting our working population, which is why we have to emphasize on prevention, screening interventions. 

 

"We need education and more awareness so people can seek treatment faster because it's really scary to see our young presentations, even with pancreatic cancer; we have patients in our thirties," she noted. 

 

Dr. Lee Foote was speaking with the media following a tour of the Hematology Oncology Facility of Mandeville Regional Hospital by Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton on Thursday.