Breast Cancer: A Case Study

Breast cancer has definitely become a serious worldwide health challenge. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), public health data points shows that the global burden of breast cancer in women, measured by the number of times something happens, death, and financial based costs, is large and on the rise. Worldwide, it is estimated that more than one million women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year, and more than 410,000 will die from the disease (Ajithkumar 2011). In low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), the setup and funds for common examination of medical breast examinations (such as mammography) are often not available. In these settings, breast cancer is therefore diagnosed at late stages and women may receive …show more content…
Screening involves the carefully planned use of testing across a population without symptoms in order to detect and treat cancer. The challenge of mass screening is not only limited to less easily available mammogram machines and trained workers but also to the fact that the targeted population of LMIC is of relatively young women in there 30s compared to those in HIC where breast cancer peaks among women in there 50s. This hints that screening should begin earlier in these Nations. Mammography is also not effective in young women due to their dense breast tissue showing that there needs to be other recommendations applied for these women in order to really tackle this issue in LMIC. The purpose of this essay is to compare the screening measures of LMIC (Africa, Asia, and India) to those in more developed countries (the United States of America, Australia, and the United Kingdom) and suggest different measures be taken for poorer countries that are more appropriate for younger populations and more affordable …show more content…
When comparing both, clinical breast examinations are more successful than self breast examinations because of the ability of clinicians to distinguish much smaller tumors. Clinical breast exam and self breast exam are more important for LMICs in view of the fact that the transmission precedence vary between LMICs and HICs. Examination programs in HICs focus on finding asymptomatic tumors, whereas for the majority of LMICs the main issue is early finding of palpable tumors (Miller AB 2010). It has been estimated that in India, up to 55% reduction in mortality from BC can be achieved over a 5 year period by detecting tumors of 3 cm in size in the community (Mittawa 1989). This is achievable by raising awareness regarding BC and BSE. Additionally, reports have shown that women can detect 95% of BCs and 65% of early minimal BCs by themselves (Brunner LS 1988). Along with awareness of risk factors, it is also suggested that “if you knew better you’d do better.” Evidence shows that when women performing self breast examination can reduce mortality up to 18% (Huguley CM 1988). Overall it can be said that, a clinical breast examinations is a good tool to begin with regarding general citizens for early detection. In addition, women being knowledgeable about how to perform their own self breast examinations can also be a major factor for reduction and early detection of breast