Breast cancer in kirkuk, Iraq. a review of 170 breast cancer females : (personalview)‎

الملخص EN

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in Iraq as well as other parts of the world.

In Western world, the progress in public education and screening program had led to early detection of the disease which led to good prognosis.

Appearance of late stages of breast cancer reflects the need for active screening and public education programs.

The aim of this retrospective study is to report the pattern of breast cancer in 170 women in Kirkuk province in relation to age, stage of disease at first presentation and histopathology during nine years period (Jan.1994 – Jan.2003).

This is a prospective and retrospective study underwent at Breast Clinic, Azadi General Hospital, Kirkuk, Iraq.

Patients were 170 women with histopathological diagnosis of breast cancer.

Out of the 170 women with breast cancer (61.7%) presented between ages 20-50 years and (38.1%) between ages 51-80 years.

Regarding stage of disease on first presentation, (62.3%) of the patients had late stages of the disease (stage III and stage IV) while only (37.6%) presented at early stages (stage I and stage II).

No stage 0 detected in this study.

The commonest histopathology was infiltrating duct carcinoma (74.1%).

In conclusion, breast cancer in Kirkuk is detected in young women and in late stages on first presentation.

These results highlight the need for increased community awareness about breast cancer and the need for early detection.