Syria's President Bashar al-Assad sits next to his wife, Asma Assad in this handout picture provided by Syrian Arab News Agency on August 8, 2018, Syria. (Reuters photo)

DAMASCUS, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Syria's First Lady Asma al-Assad has started treatment for breast cancer, the presidential media office declared on Wednesday.

The 42-year-old Asma has started the preliminary treatment of a malignant tumor that has been discovered on an early stage in the breast, the presidential office declared.

"With strength, confidence, and faith, Mrs. Asma al-Assad has started the treatment...," according to the statement.

The presidential office also posted a photo, showing the First Lady getting treatment at a military hospital with President Bashar al-Assad sitting by her side.

(File photo)Britain's Queen Elizabeth greets Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma at Buckingham Palace in London, Britain, December 17, 2002. (Reuters photo)

Born and raised to a Syrian family in London, al-Assad graduated from King's College London in 1996 with a bachelor's degree in computer science and French literature.

She had a career in investment banking and was set to begin an MBA at Harvard University when she married Bashar al-Assad in December 2000.

During her life as a First Lady, Asma al-Assad has supervised several projects in the country, creating a collection of organizations that functioned under the charity sector of the government, referred to as the Syrian Trust for Development.

Basma is one of the charity organizations the First Lady created, which takes care of children with cancer.