Article Sidebar
Article Details
Issue
Section
Articles
© 2023 The authors. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Main Article Content
Breast Cancer Prevention And Detection
Abstract
The breasts are phylogentically considered as modifications of sweat glands. They are present in all mammals and particularly become prominent in females as the hallmark of pubertal development. Like all bilateral structures, slight inequality in the size of the breast is normal. The male breast is small, though it is subject to the major diseases of the female breast.
Breast symptoms induce such anxiety in the patient that malignancy needs to be excluded or confirmed and dealt with accordingly as soon as possible.
Cancer of the breast is the commonest malignancy affecting women in many parts of the world. Globally, it accounts for 8.4% of female cancers but less than 1% of all cancers in the male, and 0.1% of male death. The incidence is rising. In the USA, about 175,000 new cases are diagnosed in the females, and about 46,000 die of it annually. In Britain, the corresponding numbers are 25,000 and 16,000. Japan has the lowest incidence 1 in 60 women in their life time, and the death rate is 13% of that in Britain.
In Africa, the true incidence is not known , but the disease is becoming more common. In Accra Ghana, it accounts for 13.0% of all females cancers, 2nd only to cancer of the cervix. In University College Hospital, (UCH) Ibadan from 2960-80, cancer of the breast contributed 6% of the 17,496 cases of cancers seen. It was the 4th commonest after cancer of the cervix.
In Jos the Plateau State of Nigeria, a 6-year retrospective study from 1979-1984 by Ihezue et al showed an incidence of 13 new cases a year reported in the South Eastern part of the country by other observers. Interestingly, no male patient was recorded in this study. However recent works in 1996, by Gukas, 1999 by Igun recorded one male patient each.
Highland Medical Research Journal Vol.1(2) 2002: 26-28
Breast symptoms induce such anxiety in the patient that malignancy needs to be excluded or confirmed and dealt with accordingly as soon as possible.
Cancer of the breast is the commonest malignancy affecting women in many parts of the world. Globally, it accounts for 8.4% of female cancers but less than 1% of all cancers in the male, and 0.1% of male death. The incidence is rising. In the USA, about 175,000 new cases are diagnosed in the females, and about 46,000 die of it annually. In Britain, the corresponding numbers are 25,000 and 16,000. Japan has the lowest incidence 1 in 60 women in their life time, and the death rate is 13% of that in Britain.
In Africa, the true incidence is not known , but the disease is becoming more common. In Accra Ghana, it accounts for 13.0% of all females cancers, 2nd only to cancer of the cervix. In University College Hospital, (UCH) Ibadan from 2960-80, cancer of the breast contributed 6% of the 17,496 cases of cancers seen. It was the 4th commonest after cancer of the cervix.
In Jos the Plateau State of Nigeria, a 6-year retrospective study from 1979-1984 by Ihezue et al showed an incidence of 13 new cases a year reported in the South Eastern part of the country by other observers. Interestingly, no male patient was recorded in this study. However recent works in 1996, by Gukas, 1999 by Igun recorded one male patient each.
Highland Medical Research Journal Vol.1(2) 2002: 26-28
