Nigeria’s high prevalence of hereditary breast cancer necessitates genetic counselling, screening —Expert

A breast cancer expert, Professor Temidayo Ogundiran, has said Nigeria has a high prevalence of hereditary breast cancer and so there is the need for genetic counselling and screening of women to stem deaths from the cancer.

Professor Ogundiran, in his inaugural lecture, entitled ‘Searchlight into the Dark Alley of Aberrant and Miscreants within the Commonwealth of Cells’, delivered at the University of Ibadan, said there is a rising incidence of female breast cancer in Africa, attributable to many factors like increasing life expectancy, decreasing fertility in young women, obesity, all acting synergistically.

According to him, “the average African woman with breast cancer is still generally young, pre-menopausal and is at a period of life when her pivotal role in the family as a mother is invaluable.”

The don said having genetic counselling and screening of women in the country would also pave the way for personalised medicine, as well as the future new drive for cancer research and practice.

Ogundiran declared that findings from the Nigerian Breast Cancer Study (NBCS) showed that age, height, weight, age at onset of menses, irregular menstrual periods, obesity and social status are predictors of breast cancer in all women

He said: “Elevated waist circumference, waist-hip ratio and increasing height are associated with an increased risk of breast cancer in most women before and after menopause, regardless of their body mass index status.

“From our work, breast cancer incidence was estimated to have increased by seven percent due to a change in age at onset of menses, 15 percent due to decreased parity (number of pregnancies carried past 20 weeks of pregnancy) and 15 percent due to shortened duration of breastfeeding per child.

“The risk of breast cancer decreased by five percent for each additional birth after the first birth and by seven percent per 12 months of breastfeeding. Therefore, multiple live births, extended breastfeeding and later onset of menstruation are protective in Nigerian women.

“A dose-response relationship was observed for the duration of alcohol drinking with a 10-year increase in drinking associated with a 54 percent increased risk. In addition, overweight or obese women that drank alcohol had a greater risk of developing breast cancer.

“Overall, physical activities, including light-intensity ones, are significantly associated with reduced breast cancer risk in women before and after menopause.”

Ogundiran, who is also the dean of the Faculty of Clinical Sciences, said a simple breast cancer risk calculator has also been developed for sub-Saharan Africa to identify high-risk individuals for breast cancer, for further targeted screening and follow-up.

He said the breast cancer risk calculator is downloaded as a window package for personal and corporate use and is particularly important for countries where cancer patients often report at a late stage due partly to low awareness and late detection.