Early Detection of Breast Cancer in the Emerging World[1]

Abstract

Breast cancer is the number one cancer of women in the world. In middle income countries, and in many low income countries, breast cancer has become the most frequent cancer in women, supplanting cancer of the cervix. In such countries, breast cancer is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage, the majority in stage III and IV, indicating substantial delay in diagnosis. Further, because of the age distribution of the population pyramid, the majority of breast cancers are diagnosed in women under the age of 50. However, that age distribution does not mean that breast cancer is a different disease than in the West. Where population-based cancer registry data are available, it becomes clear that the individual risk for women at every age is no greater than in the West, and in many countries much less.

Zusammenfassung

Brustkrebs ist die Krebsart, die bei Frauen weltweit an erster Stelle steht. In Staaten mittleren Wohlstandes und in einigen Staaten geringeren Wohlstandes wurde Brustkrebs bei Frauen zur häufigsten Krebsart und hat somit den Krebs der Zervix verdrängt. In solchen Ländern wird Brustkrebs üblicherweise im fortgeschrittenen Stadium diagnostiziert, hauptsächlich im Stadium III und IV, was zu einer erheblichen Verzögerung der Diagnosestellung führt. Des Weiteren wird aufgrund der Altersverteilung in der Bevölkerungspyramide, die Mehrzahl der Brustkrebserkrankungen bei Frauen unter 50 Jahren diagnostiziert. Wie auch immer, diese Alters-Strukturen bedeuten nicht, dass Brustkrebs eine andere Erkrankung als im Westen ist. Wo Datenaufzeichnungen von Krebserkrankten geführt werden, wird schnell deutlich, dass das individuelle Risiko für Frauen jeden Alters nicht größer ist als im Westen und in vielen Ländern viel geringer.

Key words

Früherkennung - Brustkrebs - aufstrebende Länder

Schlüsselwörter

Early detection - breast cancer - emerging world

1 Based upon a lecture delivered at the first Euro-Arab School of Oncology Meeting, Cairo, Egypt, March 7, 2006

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1 Based upon a lecture delivered at the first Euro-Arab School of Oncology Meeting, Cairo, Egypt, March 7, 2006