Cancer

Why the cancer rates are increasing in Central Asia?

INTRODUCTION

Scientists have been concerned about cancer for many years. This problem is recognized by
people over the world. For example, an Indian-American physician, biological scientist
Siddhartha Mukherjee, has written a book about the biography of cancer, about the first recorded
case of cancer (2010). The problem of cancer remains a priority for modern society, especially
when the number of patients with cancer increases every day. A World Health Organization's
statistics(2012) shows that cancer is one of the causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide,
with approximately 14 million new cases and 8.2 million deaths. As this is a significant problem
concerning the global society, this research looks at the issue of cancer disease in Central Asia.

The problem of cancer is also serious in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is one of the countries in
Central Asia, where the rate of cancer is high. There are local organizations and funds, like an
Association for the fight against cancer. The government is also providing assistance to the
patients.

The relevance of this problem is reflected in the World Health Organization‘s report. According
to Chan (2014), “Cancer takes second place in mortality in the World. The rate of cancer
expected to rise a further 75%. This will bring the number of cancer cases close to 25 million
over the next two decades” (page/para). This proves the significance of the problem and the
necessity to take urgent actions by the governments of the countries, including Central Asia.
(The World Cancer Report. Dr. Margaret Chan.2014)

One of the motivation factors that influenced the choice of the topic is the highest rate of
mortality because of cancer in Central Asia and in Kazakhstan. Moreover, the patients’
experiences and stories about this disease motivated me to learn about this issue. In addition, it is
important to mark my personal interest in this research, as I wanted to know more about the
reasons and treatments of cancer, because I believe that the decision of this illness can found
with the help of scientific research. Moreover, a group of students, including me, wanted to open
a fund, where we will help for young cancer patients in our city.

AIMS
The purpose of the research project was to find out the main reasons for increasing the rate of
cancer in Central Asia. The aim was to explore how much people get cancer in case of
Kazakhstan and what are the reasons for the rapid increase in the number of cancer patients.

Thus, the following questions helped me to investigate the issue:

• Are people aware of the reasons of the cancer increase?

• What is the number of officially registered cancer patients in Kazakhstan?

• Why the Kazakhstan has highest cancer rates In Central Asia?

• What are the main reasons for increasing cancer rates in Kazakhstan?

The outcomes of the research project were directed to learn about the reasons and causes of
increasing the cancer rates in Central Asia. The main focus of the research was Kazakhstan.
Therefore, the results of the study can help to educate local population about the reasons of
cancer and help them to overcome this disease.

METHODS

The research design included a qualitative method. Qualitative method helped me to conduct in
depth interviews with individuals to gather more detailed information about research topic. As
the aim of the project was to find out the main reasons of increasing the rate of cancer in Central
Asia, qualitative research design was considered the best choice to conduct a current study.

Various data collection methods were used. With the help of the secondary research background
history about the topic and recent research was discovered. The sources helped to get general
information and background history about cancer rates and reasons of increasing. For example,
the information and statistics of World Health Organization helped to maintain good and relevant
arguments. Moreover, it helps to get answer for questions which helped to investigate the issue.

The information about reasons of increasing the cancer rate, designed by primary research
methods. As for primary data collection method, Interviews with oncologists from Aktobe was
used. It was important to get specialists opinion to find out the underlying reasons for increasing
cancer rates in Kazakhstan.

As the main interviewees oncologists from Oncological Center of Aktobe were invited to
participate in the study. This persons was chosen because they have experts knowledge about
this disease and also the reasons of high rates of cancer in our country. They were asked semi-
structured questions, so, it helps to get more exact and detailed information. The interview was
held on formal way, interviewees signed the informed consent form for to participate. Each
interview takes minimum 15 minutes. The interview was audio recorded, to gather exact
information without mistakes. Five oncologists were interviewed, two males and three females.

There were some limitations during the primary research. I could not collect the enough number
of interviews, because it was difficult to take interview from oncologists during working hours.
In addition, many specialists were busy.

CONTEXT

“Cancer is a term for diseases in which abnormal cells divide without control and can invade
nearby tissues” (NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms, n.d.). In other words, it is called a “malignant
tumor”, cancer can be in all parts of body, also it can “spread to other organs” (World Health
Organization, 2015). According to the World Health Organization (2015) cancer is one of the
main causes of death in the world which led to 8.8 million mortal cases in 2015. Moreover,
“Lung, prostate, colorectal, stomach and liver cancer are the most common types of cancer in
men, while breast, colorectal, lung, cervix and stomach cancer are the most common among
women”. More than 60% of new cases of cancer occur in Asia, Africa, Centrаl and South
America; 70 percent of world cancer mortality also occurs in these regions (National Cancer
Institute, 2016). According to the GLOBOCAN (2012), recently the amount of deaths in South-
Central Asia because of the cancer reached to the 1.5 million.

This problem also exists in our country. As reported in Cancer Research UK (2012), there are
140.24 deaths per 100 thousand people in Kazakhstan. Also, according to the statistics of The
Ministry of Health Care of Kazakhstan (2013), the cancer rate increased, and the rate was 194.1
per 100000 people. As stated by Rakhimzhanova (2014), the rates of breast cancer in Kazakhstan
are one of the highest in Central Asia. It means that Kazakhstan is one of the countries in Central
Asia where cancer rate is very high; however, the amount of mortality is quite big.

This problem is outlined by different perspectives. The first perspective is economical. As we all
know, many countries spend big amount of money to tackle the problem of mortality due to
cancer. “The economic impact of cancer is significant and increasing. The total annual economic
cost of cancer in 2010 was estimated at approximately US$ 1.16 trillion”(World Health
Organization, n.d.).As stated by Nurgaziyev, chief oncologist of Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan is the
only country which provides cancer patients with free medicals. Medicals against cancer are very
expensive. For instance, the treatment of breast cancer at first stage costs about 110-120
thousand tenge per person. And at the fourth stage - 27 million tenge.98 percent of the treatment
cost is drugs. There are medications that cost about 7-8 thousand dollars per month for one
patient. Thus, it is evident that cancer treatment requires a lot of money.

Cancer is also described by environmental perspectives. As stated by Dr.Aliraza Safaiyan M.D.

(n.d.), occupational Medicine Specialist “Globally, 19% of all cancer cases are attributable to the
environment, including work setting resulting in 1.3 million deaths each year.”. Certain things
that we use every day can cause cancer. According to the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services(n.d.), ultraviolet radiation from the sunlight, lamps and solarium causes
“premature aging” of the skin and damage of DNA which can lead to the skin cancer, also, the
viruses and bacteria can cause some types of cancer, which can be transmitted by genital tract,
moreover, some metals can causes cancer, for example, arsenic can lead to the skin, kidney,
bladder, lung, and liver cancers.

Moreover, cancer is described by patients’ perspectives. As stated by Saya Kulchuk, cancer

patient who lives in Aktobe, she was diagnosed with embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma - a rare form
of malignant tumor originating from skeletal muscle. She says that “The disease suddenly fell on
me and my family”. When she was 18 years old the girl had to take a terrible decision - to agree
to a hysterectomy, removal of the uterus, fallopian tubes and lymph nodes. During this treatment,
she lost hair and eyebrows, and eyelashes. “Chemotherapy - this is the hell of hell! 8 courses of
the intensive chemotherapy were hitting my body and mental state by incredible power. Heavy
head, lack of appetite, perpetual nausea and severe dizziness. It hurt even just to breathe.”(
Kulchuk, 2016).

Based on the fact that cancer is one of the global problems, the study was designed to explore the
problem of rapid cancer growth in Central Asia and in Kazakhstan. Therefore, this research will
investigate this topic in different ways, to get an answer to the research question.

RESULTS

The interviews were very important, because there were opinions of professional oncologists,
who are specialists in this sphere. The information which I gathered was very different from the
statistics which I collected from the Internet for Context section.

Collected data was very useful for this research, moreover, I notice that all specialists thinks that
the main reason of cancer is the unhealthy, spicy and smoked food. Also, the geographic location
is one of the causes of cancer. The answers to all questions are connected, in addition, the
answers of oncologists also coincident with each other.
To sum up, the main outcomes were that cancer rates and number of mortality are increased.
Moreover, most of the answers were found similar, but, one of the specialist opinions was
different from another’s opinion. An interview I have 9 main questions, and 5 of them logically
connected with the questions from the Aims section, so I chose the most important ones for my
research.

• One of the most relevant one was about the main reasons of cancer. Most of the
interviewees answered that the main reason of emergence of cancer is food. For instance, one of
the oncologists said: “The main reason of increasing cancer rates is exogenous factors.
Exogenous factors are connected with consuming harmful foods.” Moreover, the oncologists
said that, the ecological factors and using tobacco and alcohol also affect the growth of cancer
rates. By the answers of interviewee I understood that, the unhealthy food is one of the reasons
of cancer.

• The second question was about the reasons of highest cancer rates in Kazakhstan from
Central Asia. The oncologist of Regional Oncological Hospital answered that, the main reason of
high cancer rates is the traditional dishes of Kazakh nationality. For example, smoked meat and
pickled vegetables also cause cancer. Moreover, the geographical location also effects on the
consumption of food. According to oncologist “We must consume fresh fruits and vegetables to
avoid cancer, the fresh fruits and vegetables are protectors, protectors means that, they protect
the body from any diseases”. By asking this question, I found the answer for my research
question, and gathered the needed information about it.

• The next question was about the average age of cancer patients in our region. Answers of
this question were different, because, the oncologists answered in different way, For example, if
one of them said the average age is older than 50 years. Another oncologist said: “Nowadays, the
cancer dos not choose the age, both children and elderly are ill with cancer”. So, it means that,
the average age of cancer does not depend on the oldness. With the help of this question, I found
out that the cancer does not depend on age.

• The following question was about the distribution of cancer among the males and females.
The specialists said that, the numbers of male and female patients are equal, because of the many
types of cancer. For example, only suffer from cervix and mammary glands cancer, when the
breast cancer occurs in men because of the usage of tobacco. From this answer, I learned about
the types of cancer which occur on only one gender.

The taking interview is necessary, because, with the help of interview questions, I received an
answer for questions of Aims section. Moreover, the answers were linked with the purpose of the
research. From this primary research conducted I collected the needed data for my research, also
I learned about the main reasons of cancer and how to avoid it. The question where I asked about
the main reasons of increasing the cancer rates helped me to gather the essential information
about the reasons and ways to prevent the cancer.

CONCLUSION

In this text, you can see the answers to the Aims section’s questions.

• Are people aware of the reasons of the cancer increase?

People are not aware of the reasons of the cancer, because they do not know that their national
and traditional food is one of the main reasons of cancer. However, I conducted the information
from oncologists; therefore they may not be true for all people.

• What is the number of officially registered cancer patients in Kazakhstan?

I could not gather information about it because interviewed oncologists did not know the official
number of registered patients.

• Why does Kazakhstan have highest cancer rates In Central Asia?

The main reason is our traditional food and traditions. We eat spicy, pickled and smoked food a
whole year. The lack of fresh fruits and vegetables play a huge role in the occurrence of cancer.

Moreover, citizens do not take into serious illness, after which the cancer begins. Also, our
ecology also affects the growth of cancer.

• What are the main reasons for increasing cancer rates in Kazakhstan?

There are four main reasons for increasing cancer rates:

1. Fast food, smoked, spicy and pickled food;

2. Geographical location;

3. Usage of tobacco and alcohol;

4. Ecology.

• Why are the cancer rates increasing in Central Asia?

The cancer rates are increasing because of the usage of harmful foods and things, like fast food,
smoked and pickled food. Also, the Asians consume smoked and spicy food every day, so it
effects on the cancer rates. Moreover, the smoking and drinking alcohol is also the main causes
of cancer.

As the results of this research, it is possible to say that cancer has very high rates of mortality,
which occurs because of the using harmful substances. There are the only answers of
oncologists, so, to gather enough information, and to know the people opinion, this work must be
continued.

The research also shows that our country in order to prevent cancer provides cancer patients with
the money and medicines.

EVALUATION

The results of the research were felicitously completed, and the main questions from the Aims
section and research question were answered.

The background research was very important and helpful. Also, the data based on reliable and
credible sources like World Health Organization (WHO) with confident and exact data with
statistics. However, some of the data can be outdated, because of most of information and
statistics from 2014. The information from the WHO reaffirmed with governments, so there may
be usually based on governments, which may be not true because the government could change
the statistics in order to make it beneficial for them. Moreover, the articles of some journalists
from NURKZ site could be not exact information, because their papers are not 100 percent
checked.

The clear conclusion could be made from the results of the conducted interview and it could be
applied to the assumed target population; the oncologists from Regional Oncological Hospital.
The respondents of the specialists from Regional Oncological Hospital make the results reliable.
However, the conclusions are not generalizable as research was taken in Central Hospital and
only oncologists of this region were involved.

Moreover, my opinion coincided with the majority opinion and the statistics obtained from the
secondary research more or less proved the correctness of this point of view. While the research
project, it became known some facts about cancer causes which are connected with our national
and traditional food.

Despite the results obtained, it would be possible to enhance their reliability and to reduce the
inaccuracy with a larger number of respondents and by adding more specified questions to the
survey. Moreover, the interviews should be conducted by different specialists of our country in
order to generalize it to the whole oncologists of Kazakhstan. Moreover, the surveys also should
be conducted to gather enough information. Overall, the results from the survey supported and
strengthened the data and statistics mentioned in the Context section.

FURTHER RESEARCH

By conducting this research and interviews so many questions were interesting to find answers
and reasons for them in following years.

It would be helpful to gather information from other doctors and oncologists from our region and
Republic. The reasons of that are different answers for my interview questions. For instance, one
oncologist’s answer does not match with the answer of another oncologist.

Primary methods could be used for other doctors from our country to avoid overgeneralization
because they have different perspectives, also, the level of knowledge is various, it helps to
improve my research. Understanding their point is important, because they engaged in this
problem, and know about cancer more than others. These interviews will be helpful to analyze
the answers of oncologists from the whole country. It would be significant because the answers
would give more exact and detailed answers, so, it would be light to colligate. The big amount of
conducted interviews gives more relevant and reliable data.

As there are the big amounts of mortality because of cancer, it is important to find a solution for
this disease. For this reason, such studies are conducted. Moreover, this research would be
connected with hospitals and cancer centers so more information can be found.

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