Sancti Spíritus maintains breast cancer care amidst the country’s shortages

Faced with a rise in breast cancer cases in Sancti Spíritus, the Camilo Cienfuegos Provincial Hospital is striving to maintain surgical services for the disease, even though operations are currently limited and fall short of actual care needs.

According to Daniel Hernández Jiménez, the institution’s Deputy Director of Medical Support and Diagnostic Services, the center is prioritizing efforts to ensure continued care for patients requiring surgery, despite the country’s current difficulties.

“We are currently evaluating a large number of breast cancer patients. We can confirm that the number of patients attending consultations is higher, and the number of diagnoses has increased; what we are specifically assessing is the volume of patients waiting to undergo breast surgery.

“We have observed national figures regarding survival rates and quality of life, noting that the surgical waiting list keeps growing; yet, we cannot operate on 100% of patients due to supply shortages and the difficulties Cuba is currently facing.”

Hernández Jiménez notes that another major challenge is the importation of specific breast cancer chemotherapy drugs, the availability of which has been hampered by restrictions imposed by the United States embargo.

“Despite all the difficulties regarding supplies and medications we face, we are performing breast cancer surgeries. However, the surgical volume we can currently maintain is insufficient, especially given that we haven’t received specific breast cancer chemotherapy drugs for over six months. We have received some chemotherapy agents—mind you—but not the ones used for breast cancer. We are implementing compassionate-use regimens and seeking alternatives.

Daniel Hernández Jiménez also drew attention to an unusual pattern of the disease in the province, noting that three cases of male breast cancer have been diagnosed so far this year.

‘International medical literature indicates a very low incidence of breast cancer in men. For instance, last year only one case was reported in our surgery and pathology departments. Why do I mention this? Because sometimes patients come for an initial consultation but then go to another province for treatment—perhaps because they have family there—so they drop out of our local statistics. Yet, last year there was only one male patient with breast cancer. This year, we have already seen three male patients with the disease. Breast cancer in men is a highly aggressive condition. First, it is rare. Second, it behaves differently and is very lethal.'”