Early Detection of Breast Cancer

Abstract

Early accurate detection of breast cancer presents the best opportunity for the physician to combat breast cancer mortality, which is the commonest cause of cancer deaths in women.

The early breast cancer is defined as that which is potentially curable by surgery, thus excluding those with obvious distant metastasis or locally advanced cases with inflammatory breast cancer, muscle or chest wall fixation, extensive skin ulceration or oedema, arm oedema or fixed axillary nodes (Saks & Baum, 1993).

Three imperfect methods are available for early detection of breast cancers mammography, clinical examination, and breast self examination: One third of all breast cancer cases occur in women under the age of 50 years, and this a period when mammography is in effective and clinical examination is infrequent. Consequently BSE is highly significant for this age group.

Among different _ _imaging modalities_ of _the breast, soft tissue mammography is characterized by being quick, economic and least invasive. It is mean accuracy rate is 94%.

Ultrasonography of the breast is ex emely reliable in the differentiation of cystic from solid lesions, imd it is of greater use when the mammographic findings are equivocal and when multiple areas of abnormalities are seen on examination