Breast cancer accounts for 23% of new cancer cases in Nigeria — Expert

A medical expert, Professor Millicent Obajimi, has said the incidence of breast cancer, the leading cause of cancer in women worldwide, has continued to rise in Nigeria and now accounts for about 23 percent of all new cases of cancer in the country.

Professor Obajimi, who spoke at the Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria (MWAN) national webinar, with the theme, ‘Escalating Breast and Cervical Cancer Awareness: Risk Assessment and Screening’, asked doctors to particularly make effort to identify high risk families with significant family history, because breast cancer is responsible for about 50 percent cancer incidence and deaths in the country.

Obajimi, Professor of Radiology at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, said although the cause of breast cancer is unknown, its increasing incidence has been linked to urbanisation, diet, parity, contraception and the environment.

According to her, breast cancer sometimes is hereditary and should be suspected when several close family members have been diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer, or a male relative has been diagnosed with the cancer, or even when both breasts have been involved.

She stated that risk factors for breast cancer include family history, increased weight after menopause, westernised diet, exposure to ionising radiation, oral contraceptives, benign breast disease and lack of breastfeeding.

While symptoms of breast cancer can include nipple discharge, skin colour changes in the breast, palpable lump and pain, she urged yearly mammograms for women from age 40, monthly breast self-examination from age 20 and clinical breast examination once every three years by an expert for women ages 20 to 39.

Professor Obajimi called for improvement on cancer awareness and the establishment of a national cancer policy, subsidised cost of management of breast cancer to make it affordable, the inclusion of cancer care in the National Health Insurance Scheme and training and retraining of care providers.

In his presentation, Professor Isaac Alatise, a surgeon at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, said outcome of breast cancer in Nigeria is poor and improving outcomes of the cancer will require a combined effect of early diagnosis and adjunct therapy.

Professor Alatise said mammography remains the only screening modality associated with 25 percent improvement in survival from breast cancer and, as such, should be encouraged and made available and affordable, while clinical breast examination can be made routine

National President of MWAN, Dr Adekemi Otolorin, said the association, over the years, had invested time and resources to raise awareness about breast and cervical cancers and to stress the importance of regular screening and early detection.

Otolorin said the launch of a Breast and Cervical Cancer Fund was to further support women diagnosed with these conditions during its screening exercises.

Dr Adeleye Omisore, a radiologist at the OAU, Ile-Ife, stated that Nigeria has no screening programme for breast cancer and suggested developing a screening protocol based on population-wide screening, risk-based screening or opportunistic-based format.