Mohammad Adnan Nazeer, Khalil Ahmed, Maratab Ali, Mansab Ali, Rizwan Saleem, Bilquees Suleman.
The Frequency of Benign & Malignant Breast Lesions at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Lahore.
Pak J Med Health Sci Jan ;6(3):570-2.

Objective: To determine the frequency of benign and malignant breast lesions at a tertiary care hospital. Materials & methods: This is a cross sectional, descriptive, prospective study carried out at Nawaz Sharif Social Security University Hospital Lahore. The study duration was 1 year i.e., from January 2010 to January 2011. All the female patients between 16 to 70 years of age who presented with breast lump to surgical outpatient department of Nawaz Sharif Social Security University Hospital Lahore from January 2010 to January 2011 were included in the study. All the patients were interviewed and examined by senior registrar and later on by consultants in outpatient department. All the patients were investigated (ultrasonography, mammography). Fine needle aspiration cytology and biopsies were carried by general surgeons and were reported by consultant pathologist at the same hospital. Results: Total 200 patients were presented with breast lump out of which 160 (80%) were benign and 40(20%) were malignant (according to histopathology). Among the benign lesions 85(42.5%) were fibroadenoma, 50(25%) fibrocystic changes and 25(12.5%) were abscesses. Out of 40 malignant cases 30 (15%) were ductal carcinomas, 8(4%) were lobular carcinomas and 2(1%) were medullary carcinoma. Conclusion: Breast lump is the commonest presentation of the breast cancer in women and is a rapidly growing problem in Pakistan. The incidence of malignancy is higher in women of age more than 30 years. The commonest subtype is the invasive ductal carcinoma. In contrast to certain international studies, Pakistani females present with malignant breast lesions at a younger age. Thus this warrants the need for a national screening programme and regular self examination of breast by females in Pakistan.

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