Patterns of Breast Cancer Among Ethiopian Patients: Presentations and Histopathological Features

Background: Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women and the leading cause of cancer
deaths worldwide. In Ethiopia breast cancer is among the most prevalent cancer and occurs at young age. It usually
presents at an advanced stage.
Objective: To describe the frequency, stages, histological patterns, staging and grading of breast cancers
among Ethiopian women in three Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Methods: A prospective study of 197 patients who presented to three hospital with breast cancer and underwent
surgery from December 2013-December 2015. Tissue were fixed in 10% formalin solution and paraffin embedded.
Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) stained slides were prepared in all cases and reviewed and classify according to
the WHO.
Results: The mean ± SD age of the participants was 44.77 ± 13.6 and the median was 42 years. Most patients
were aged less than 50 years (70.6%) at the time of diagnosis. 57.4% were pre-menopausal and 42.6% were
postmenopausal. The duration of symptom before presentation ranged from 2 to 48 months with mean ± SD 18.11
± 13.2 months. Invasive ductal carcinoma was the commonest (79.2%) histologic type of breast cancer. Of all
patients, (46.2 %) of patients had grade 2, while (36.5%) of the cases were grade 3 or poorly differentiated tumors.
Most patients (70%) presented with advanced stage (III and IV) and more than (90 %) tumor were >2 cm in size.
Conclusion: Our study shows breast cancer is a common disease that affects young Ethiopian women, and
that there is a significant delay in presentation and advanced stage presentation is a major concern. It should be
recognized that breast cancer is a disease with a serious public health implication.