• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.213-223
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• 2001

Breast cancer accounts for the higher proportion of cancer related deaths among women, and the incidence of this malignant disease is still increasing. The commonly used screening method is mammography. However, mammography has the drawback of low specificity in differentiating malignant and benign breast diseases. To overcome this low specificity of mammography, scintimammography using various radiopharmaceuticals such as Thallium-201, Tc-99m MIBI, Tc-99m tetrofosmin and Tc-99m MDP was introduced and now actively under the investigation. Several studios have shown that high sensitivity and specificity in detection of primary breast cancer and axillary lymph node metastases using these radiopharmaceuticals. Scintimammography may play important roles in the diagnosis of primary breast cancer, evaluation of the patients with high risk, determining axillary lymph node metastasis, evaluation of the response to chemotherapy, determining the extent of disease, and surveillance of local recurrence. In the future, we should investigate the prognostic role of scintimammography after treatment of breast cancer patients and cost-effectiveness of scintimammography in the detection of primary breast cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.117-120
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• 2013

Background: Breast cancer is an increasing health problem in India. Screening for early detection should lead to a reduction in mortality from the disease. It is known that motivation by nurses influences uptake of screening methods by women. This study aimed to investigate knowledge of breast cancer risk factors & early detection methods and the practice of screening among nurses in Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire to assess the knowledge of breast cancer risk factors, early detection methods and practice of screening methods among 457 nurses working in a Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla-H.P. Chi square test, Data was analysed using SPSS version 16. Test of significance used was chi square test. Results: The response rate of the study was 94.9%. The average knowledge of risk factors about breast cancer of the entire population is 49%. 10.5% of nurses had poor knowledge, 25.2% of the nurses had good knowledge, 45% had very good knowledge and 16.3% of the nurses had excellent knowledge about risk factors of breast cancer and early detection methods. The knowledge level was significantly higher among BSC nurses than nurses with Diploma. 54% of participants in this study reportedly practice BSE at least once every year. Less than one-third reported that they had CBE within the past one year. 7% ever had mammogram before this study. Conclusions: Results from this study suggest the frequent continuing medical education programmes on breast cancer at institutional level is desirable.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.17
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• pp.7607-7612
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• 2015

Aims: The purpose of our study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the evaluation of contralateral breast in patients with diagnosed breast cancer. A secondary objective was to determine accuracy of breast MRI in diagnosing multi-focal and multicentric lesions in the ipsilateral breast. Materials and Methods: Using a non-probability convenience sampling technique, patients with histopathologically diagnosed breast cancer with MRI of breast performed to exclude additional lesions were included. MRI findings were correlated with histopathology. In addition, follow-up imaging with mammography and ultrasound was also assessed for establishing stability of negative findings and for the detected of benign lesions. Results: Out of 157 MRI breast conducted during the period of 2008 to 2013, 49 were performed for patients with diagnosed breast cancer. The sample comprised of all females with mean age $50.7{\pm}11.0years$. The patient follow-up imaging was available for a period of 2-5 years. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of MRI in the detection of multifocal/multicenteric lesions was 85.7%, 88.8%, 60% and 96.6% respectively and for the detection of lesions in the contralateral breast were 100%, 97%, 83.3% and 100% respectively. Conclusions: Our study highlights the diagnostic performance and the added value of MRI in the detection of multifocal/multicenteric and contralateral malignant lesions. In patients with diagnosed breast cancer having dense breast parenchyma and with infiltrating lobular carcinoma as the index lesion MRI is particularly useful with excellent negative predictive value in the exclusion of additional malignant foci in the ipsilateral and contralateral breasts.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.19
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• pp.8115-8119
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• 2014

Background: Breast cancer continues to be the most common type of cancer afflicting many women worldwide. Presently, educational campaigns and research target only women as if men have no role in the management of this disease. The study examined the willingness of male partners to assist in early female breast cancer detection as well as their awareness and knowledge levels. Materials and Methods: Using a semi-structured questionnaire, data was collected from 500 public servants within the Tamale Metropolis and analyzed in SPSS. Results: The level of awareness of breast cancer was very high (98.8%) but there was a low level of knowledge of breast cancer among the male population. Marital status and religion had no effect on attitude, but increasing educational status significantly increased knowledge and positive attitude towards breast cancer examination (${\chi}^2$=4.255, p=0.0391). The majority (92.0%) agreed that men can assist in early breast cancer detection and 96.2% were willing to be provided with breast examination skills. Conclusions: Although level of awareness on female breast cancers among the men was high, they generally lack knowledge of the disease. Majority of male partners want to assist in early breast cancer detection if provided with the necessary skills.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.15
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• pp.6249-6254
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• 2015

Targeting breast cancer awareness along with comprehensive cancer care is appropriate in low and middle income countries like India, where there are no organized and affordable screening services. It is essential to identify the existing awareness about breast cancer in the community prior to launching an organized effort. This study assessed the existing awareness about breast cancer amongst women and their health seeking practices in an urban community in Mumbai, India. A postal survey was undertaken with low or no cost options for returning the completed questionnaires. The majority of the women were aware about cancer but awareness about symptoms and signs was poor. Women were willing to accept more information about cancer and those with higher awareness scores were more likely to seek medical help. They were also more likely to have undergone breast examination in the past and less likely to use alternative medicines. High income was associated with better awareness but this did not translate into better health seeking behaviour. Organized programmes giving detailed information about breast cancer and its symptoms are needed and women from all income categories need to be encouraged for positive change towards health seeking. Further detailed studies regarding barriers to health seeking in India are necessary.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.sup3
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• pp.43-46
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• 2016

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women around the world. Information on the incidence and mortality of breast cancer is essential for planning health measures. This study aimed to investigate the incidence and mortality of breast cancer in the world using age-specific incidence and mortality rates for the year 2012 acquired from the global cancer project (GLOBOCAN 2012) as well as data about incidence and mortality of the cancer based on national reports. It was estimated that 1,671,149 new cases of breast cancer were identified and 521,907 cases of deaths due to breast cancer occurred in the world in 2012. According to GLOBOCAN, it is the most common cancer in women, accounting for 25.1% of all cancers. Breast cancer incidence in developed countries is higher, while relative mortality is greatest in less developed countries. Education of women is suggested in all countries for early detection and treatment. Plans for the control and prevention of this cancer must be a high priority for health policy makers; also, it is necessary to increase awareness of risk factors and early detection in less developed countries.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.31-34
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• 2015

While mammography has been used for diagnosis of breast cancer in Kazakhstan for a long period, published data are very limited. Recently stress has been placed on increasing the accuracy by double reading of mammograms. Here we provide an overview of breast cancer screening in the different regions of Kazakhstan with data on the stages of cancers detected. A total 459,816 women aged 50, 52, 54, 56, 58 and 60 years were screened in 2012 and 379,903 in the first 9 months of 2013. Clear differences in levels of detection were noted between urban and rural residents, the latter demonstrating lower rates for both screening and cancer detection. Women aged 50 were more likely to undergo screening than their counterparts aged 60. While there were no clear relationships evident between screening rates and stage or numbers of breast cancers observed, this might be due to a number of complicating factors like geographical variation in risk factors as well as ethnicity. Future analyses should focus on the efficacy of mammography in Kazakhstan to reduce mortality.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.4137-4141
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• 2016

Background: A recent guideline by the American Cancer Society recommended that mammography (MMG) should be done for women starting in their mid-40s. In Thailand, information on opportunistic mammography screening is limited and data on the total incidence of breast cancer are also lacking. The purpose of this study was to estimate the breast cancer detection, incident and prevalence rates among Thai women. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the opportunistic mammography screening of normal women between 30 and 80 years who underwent the procedure between 2001 and 2010. All cases were followed until 2012. The detection rate was calculated for the whole period of observation using 'number of women with positive findings' divided by 'total number of women screened'. The incidence rate was calculated only at the first MMG while the subsequence rate was calculated based on all new cases detected at each subsequent MMG. Results: Among the 47,430 women, there were 152,091 MMGs or approximately 3.2 occasions per person (range, 1-10). The average duration of the interval between each subsequence visit was 1.8 years. Overall, breast cancer was detected in 543 women, with a detection rate of 10.3 per 1,000 persons. The prevalence rate of breast cancer at the first visit was 5.78 per 1,000 persons. The incidence or new cases detected at any follow-up visit was 10.4 per 1,000 persons. The overall interval cancer was 0.91 per 1,000 women, mainly detected before their second and third MMG, with a rate of 0.0.47 and 0.76 per 1,000 women. Conclusions: Opportunistic mammography screening in Thailand detected 10 case of breast cancer from each 1,000 women. This paper indicated a high rate of cancer detection during a two year interval, hence, a screening mammogram should be performed more often.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.10
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• pp.5219-5223
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• 2012

Osteopontin (OPN) is an integrin-binding protein, believed to be involved in a variety of physiological cellular functions. The physiology of OPN is best documented in the bone where this secreted adhesive glycoprotein appears to be involved in osteoblast differentiation and bone formation. In our study, we used semi-quantitative RT-PCR of osteopontin in calcification tissue of breast to detect breast cancer metastasis. The obtained data indicate that the expression of osteopontin is related to calcification tissue of breast, and possibly with the incidence of breast cancer. The expression strength of OPN by RT-PCR detection was related to the degree of malignancy of breast lesions, suggesting a close relationship between OPN and breast calcification tissue. The results revealed that expression of OPN mRNA is related to calcification of breast cancer tissue and to the development of breast cancer. Determination of OPN mRNA expression can be expected to be a guide to clinical therapy and prediction of the prognosis of breast cancer patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.5153-5157
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• 2016

Objective: The benefits of screening and early detection of breast cancer, including reduced morbidity and mortality, have been well-reported in the literature. In 2011, a breast cancer screening program was launched in Meknes-Tafilalt region of Morocco. The aim of this study was to evaluate the early performance indicators of this program. Materials and Methods: This retrospective evaluative study was conducted between April 2012 and December 2014, in Meknes-Tafilalt region of Morocco. Several performance indicators of the breast cancer screening program were calculated: the compliance rate, the positivity rate, the referral rate, the cancer detection rate and the organizational indicators. Results: During 2012-2014, a total of 184,951 women participated in the breast cancer screening program. The compliance rate was 26%, the positive rate was 3.3%, the referral rate was 36.7%, and the cancer detection rate was 1.2 per 1,000 women. The median time between the date of clinical breast examination and the date of biopsy (or cyto-puncture) was 36 days. The median time between the date of positive mammography and the date of biopsy (or cyto-puncture) was 6 days. The median time between the date of clinical breast examination and the date of the first received treatment was 61 days. Conclusions: The program needs better monitoring, as well as implementation of quality assurance tools to improve performance in our country.