Breast cancer cases in Najaf rise among younger women
Shafaq News- Najaf
Breast cancer cases shifted increasingly toward younger age groups in Iraq’s Najaf, health authorities in the province reported on Wednesday, confirming the disease remains the most common form of cancer among women there.
Maher al-Aboudi, head of media at Najaf Health Directorate, told Shafaq News that most breast cancer cases are now diagnosed in women aged 30 and above, compared to previous years when cases were typically detected in women in their 40s or 50s. He attributed the trend to environmental pollution and unhealthy dietary habits, which he said have contributed to an increase in early-onset cases.
Najaf currently hosts the Middle Euphrates Oncology Center, Al-Aboudi stated, noting that rising cancer rates have created a need for a second facility to accommodate patients and ease pressure on existing services.
Separately, Sundus Abdul Adel Mousa, head of the cancer control unit at the Najaf Health Directorate, said that 2,112 cancer cases were recorded in 2025, compared to 1,379 cases in 2020, with breast cancer continuing to top the list annually. These figures cover patients from Najaf only, while the oncology center also receives patients from five other provinces for treatment. In total, 50,019 patients from Najaf and other regions visited the center in 2025.
Cancer patients in Iraq often face delays in surgeries and appointment scheduling due to overcrowding and a shortage of medical staff, according to a previous Shafaq News investigation.
Nationwide, Iraq recorded 39,068 cancer cases in 2022. The Bone Marrow Transplant Center at Baghdad’s Medical City has conducted more than 400 autologous transplants since 2013, while the country carried out its first donor-based bone marrow transplant in 2022.
In the Kurdistan Region, official data from the Ministry of Health shows that between 2012 and 2023, a total of 81,062 cancer cases were diagnosed, with breast cancer accounting for 23% of cases among women. In 2025, more than 10,000 new cancer cases were recorded in the Region, according to Kurdish Health Minister Saman Barzanji.
Read more: Home or Hope? The Impossible Choice for Iraqi Cancer Patients
