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J Med Oncl Ther 2017 Volume 2 | Issue 3

International Conference on

Oncology and Cancer Therapeutics

October 30- November 01, 2017 | Chicago, USA

Feasibility of breast self-examination and clinical breast examination as a screening tool for breast

cancer in a low resource setting: A pilot study

Meesha Iqbal

Aga Khan University, Pakistan

reast cancer is the most common cancer in women both

in the developed and less developed world. Breast cancer

survival rates vary greatly worldwide, ranging from 80% or

over in North America, Sweden and Japan to around 60%

in middle-income countries and below 40% in low-income

countries. The low survival rates in less developed countries

can be explained mainly by the lack of early detection

programs, resulting in a high proportion of women presenting

with late-stage disease, as well as by the lack of adequate

diagnosis and treatment facilities. The menace of breast

cancer has not spared Pakistan with its incidence reaching

up to almost 35,000/100,000. 30.8% of all cancer deaths

in Pakistan are due to breast cancer. Given that Pakistan is

a low resource setting, we designed a screening program

based on examination for the detection of breast cancer. The

study was piloted in the rural area of Rehri-goth. Pre-medical

volunteer students were trained on breast self-examination.

The volunteers went door to door creating awareness in

the community regarding the danger signs of breast cancer

and the importance of self-examination. All participants

who identified any danger sign were called to the outreach

center of AKU for clinical breast examination followed by

diagnostic mammography. Although mammography has

been established as the gold standard for screening breast

cancer in the community, yet, in a low resource setting like

Pakistan, breast self-examination followed by clinical breast

examination can serve as a useful tool.