Clinical and Pathological Presentations of Breast Cancer among Young Women in North-Central Nigeria
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Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Breast cancer in the young is rare. Breast cancer in young women seems to be on the rise in Nigeria. They present within the peak of reproductive years and career. They have more aggressive disease with a worse prognosis. Treatment is based on knowledge of treatment of older women. There are very scanty data on breast cancer in the young in our environment. This study
aims to highlight the clinical stage of presentation and histological subtypes among women below 40.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: This is a prospective study done over 2 years. The patients' sociodemographic data, clinical staging and histological diagnosis were noted.
RESULTS: A total of 112 cases of breast cancer were seen, out of which 58 (51.75%) cases were aged below 40 years. Forty patients (68.9%) cases had Stage IV disease, 12 (20.68%) of the cases had Stage III, five (8.62%) had Stage II and one patient had Stage I (1.72%). Out of the 40 who were Stage IV, three were pregnant in the third trimester. Histology was invasive ductal carcinoma for 48 (84.4%) cases, while nine (15.52%) were invasive lobular cancer and one was medullary carcinoma (1.72%). Hormone and immunohistochemistry showed that 30 (51.7%) were triple‑negative, 22 (37.93%) were oestrogen receptor and progesterone receptor+ and six (10.34%) were human epidermal growth factor+.
CONCLUSION: More than half of the total cases of breast cancer seen within the period were young women who presented with late stage of the disease with the majority as triple‑negative.
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