Breast lesions in a district hospital: Demographic and histopathologic characteristics

Abstract

Background and Aim: Breast cancer is increasingly the most common malignancy among Nigerian women. This study documents the demographic and histopathologic characteristics of breast lesions in a district hospital over a 5-year period. Patients and Methods: Data were collated from patients' request forms and duplicate copies of histology reports of all cases seen under the study period. Results: Breast lesions represented 13% of all histologically diagnosed lesions during the period of the study. Almost 98.6% of these breast specimens were received from females, with a female-to-male ratio of 58.9:1.0. The overall age range of the patients seen was from 10 to 96 years, with a mean of 33.3 ± 13.1 years at the time of presentation. There were 37 (4.4%) nonneoplastic breast lesions, 547 (65.3%) benign breast neoplasms (BBNs), and 254 (30.3%) malignant breast neoplasms (MBNs). The peak age incidence of MBNs was seen in the fifth decade (33.1%). The most common BBN was fibroadenoma (54.5%), followed by fibrocystic change (29.3%). The most common MBN was invasive ductal carcinoma (84.3%), followed by lobular and mucinous carcinoma, each accounting for 4.3%. About 77.1% of the breast carcinomas were Grade II. Conclusion: Breast lesions are common in our setting, strikingly more common in females, predominantly benign in nature with fibroadenoma which peaks in the 20–29 years age group being the most common variety. Invasive ductal carcinoma is the most common malignancy, affecting more women in their 40s with one of every three cases seen in women before their 40th birthday.