PATTERN OF HISTOLOGICAL TYPES OF BREAST CANCER AMONG VARIOUS AGE GROUPS IN THE NIGER DELTA

BACKGROUND:With breast cancer being a most common scourge in the country, there is need to define the epidemiological pattern of breast cancer patients in the Niger delta; assessing their age distribution and histological types towards improved health care planning.OBJECTIVE: To determine the pattern of histological types of breast cancer among various age groups in two major hospitals in the Niger Delta.DESIGN: Descriptive study.SETTING: Central hospital Warri, Delta state and University of Benin Teaching Hospital,Edo state.SUBJECTS: The biodata and histological type of 216 breast cancer patients seen at both hospitals between 2000 and 2010 were extracted from hospital records, collated and analysed using simple descriptive statistics.RESULTS: The age range was 20- 92years. Fifty six percent of cases occurred between 30-50 years. Mean age was 48.12 years_+14.33, median age 48 years and modal age range 36-40 years. Invasive ductal carcinoma was the commonest histological type at 87.0%.Intraductal carcinoma was very minimal at 4.4%. The right breast was involved in 49.1% and left breast, 50.1% of cases. One case of bilateral breast cancer was noted.CONCLUSION: Breast cancer in the Niger Delta commonly occurs at premenopausal ages. A majority occurring between the third to fifth decade of life. Invasive ductal carcinoma is the commonest histological type.