BackgroundBreast cancer remains an important public health problem. This study aimed to investigate about female knowledge of breast cancer and self-reported practice of breast self-examination in Iran.MethodsThis was a population-based survey carried out in Tehran, Iran. Data were collected via a structured questionnaire containing 15 questions on demographic status, history of personal and family breast problems, subjective knowledge about breast cancer covering its symptoms, the screening methods and practice of breast self-examination (BSE). A trained female nurse interviewed each respondent. Analysis included descriptive statistics and the Chi-squared test where necessary.ResultsA total of 1402 women were interviewed. The mean age of respondents was 43.4 (SD = 14.4) years; most were married (85%), and without any personal (94%) and family history (90%) of breast problems. It was found that 64% of the respondents were familiar with breast cancer and 61% (n = 851) believed that 'the disease is relatively common among women in Iran'. Most women (44%) perceived a painless mass as a breast cancer symptom. Overall, 61% of the respondents stated that they knew about breast cancer screening programs and most indicated that electronic media (television 34% and radio 14%) were their source of information. Only 17% of women said that 'they were conducting regular breast self-examination'. The main reason for women not doing breast self-examination was due to the fact that they did not know how to do it (64%). The findings indicated that performing breast self-examination is significantly related to: age, marital status, education, knowledge of breast cancer and knowledge about breast cancer screening programs (p < 0.05), but not to personal (P = 0.2) and family (P = 0.7) history of breast problems.ConclusionThis descriptive study provides useful information that could be utilized by both researchers and those involved in public health programmes. The findings indicated that the women awareness of breast cancer warning signs (painless lump, retraction of nipple, and bloody discharge) and effective screening methods i.e. clinical examination, and mammography were very inadequate. Thus, health education programmes to rectify the lack of women awareness is urgently needed. Indeed the focus of primary health care providers should be to raise awareness about breast care among women and to encourage them to report any unusual changes in their breasts to their family or care physicians.

Breast cancer is one of the most frequent malignancies among Iranian women, however; the epidemiological aspects of breast cancer among Iranian patients are uncertain. A literature review of the published articles from January 1998 to December 2005 was conducted using different search engines: MEDLINE, Scientific information data base of Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research, and over 2000 issues of 94 Persian medical journals. The headings "Breast Cancer,""Breast Tumor,""Breast Malignancy," and "Breast Carcinoma" were combined with the word "Iran" to execute the search. In all, 85 full papers were reviewed. These findings showed that participants ranged from 15 to 84 years old, with those 40-49 being the most prevalent. The incidence of breast cancer in women was 22 per 100,000. The prevalence in this same population was 120 per 100,000. Stage I was diagnosed in 18%, stage II in 57% and stage III in 25% of the cases. About 72% of the patients were diagnosed with a tumor over 2 cm. Sixty-three percent of the patients had lymph node involvement at the diagnostic time. Infiltrative ductal carcinoma was found to be the most common at 77% and lobular carcinoma the least at 5%. This review indicates that the epidemiological aspects of breast cancer in Iran are relatively well-studied. Shortcomings in study of its clinical aspects are evident and need to be a central part of upcoming investigations.

BackgroundMeasuring quality of life in breast cancer patients is of importance in assessing treatment outcomes. This study examined the impact of breast cancer diagnosis and its treatment on quality of life of women with breast cancer.MethodsThis was a prospective study of quality of life in breast cancer patients. Quality of life was measured using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) and its breast cancer supplementary measure (QLQ-BR23) at three points in time: baseline (pre diagnosis), three months after initial treatment and one year after completion of treatment (in all 18 months follow-up). At baseline the questionnaires were administered to all suspected identified patients while both patients and the interviewer were blind to the final diagnosis. Socio-demographic and clinical data included: age, education, marital status, disease stage and initial treatment. Repeated measure analysis was performed to compare quality of life differences over the time.ResultsIn all, 167 patients diagnosed with breast cancer. The mean age of breast cancer patients was 47.2 (SD = 13.5) years and the vast majority (82.6%) underwent mastectomy. At eighteen months follow-up data for 99 patients were available for analysis. The results showed there were significant differences in patients' functioning and global quality of life at three points in time (P < 0.001). Although there were deteriorations in patients' scores for body image and sexual functioning, there were significant improvements for breast symptoms, systematic therapy side effects and patients' future perspective (P < 0.05).ConclusionThe findings suggest that overall breast cancer patients perceived benefit from their cancer treatment in long-term. However, patients reported problems with global quality of life, pain, arm symptoms and body image even after 18 months following their treatments. In addition, most of the functional scores did not improve.