Unveiling the Crises of Breast Cancer in Young Nigerian Women: A Ten Year Retropsective Study in a North Central State

Aims: To determine the proportion of breast cancers that occur in young women at the Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria between the 1st of January 2013 to 31st December 2022. The age distribution and the percentage contribution of breast cancer among malignancies in young women will also be determined.

Study Design: This is a retrospective observational study.

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Anatomic Pathology and Forensic Medicine of the Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria between the 1st of January 2013 to 31st December 2022.

Methodology: We extracted all 703 cases of female breast cancer diagnosed histologically and registered in the hospital-based cancer registry of Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria. The age distribution and percentage of breast cancers diagnosed in women ≤40 years was determined. The total number of cancers diagnosed within the review period, the total number of cancers in women and the total number of cancers in women ≤40 years were also extracted and used to calculate the burden of breast cancer in relation to these groups.

Results: A total of 703 breast cancers were documented within the period of review, 211 (30.0%) of which occurred in women ≤40 years. The peak of breast cancer diagnosis occurred in the 5th decade. Female breast cancers accounted for 19.5% of all malignancies diagnosed within the period of review. They accounted for 32.5% of all cancers in women and 31.9% of cancers in women ≤40 years.

Conclusion: Female breast cancer was the commonest malignancy diagnosed during the period of our review. The proportion of cases diagnosed in young women in our study is significantly higher than observations in developed western nations.