[A program to instruct women in breast self-examination]

The study was concerned with analysis of the second stage of evaluation of a breast self-examination training program aimed at early detection of cancer. A total of 60,079 of women were recruited into the WHO/USSR Project in Moscow in 1985-1988: study group--30,465 and controls--29,614. At 6 months, 52.5% of women performed breast self-examination on a regular basis whereas at 12 months the percentage decreased to 42.0. Breast cancer was diagnosed in 6 out of 11,548 females of the study group (stage I--1 case, stage II--3 and stage III--2 cases) and in 10 out of 23,083 controls (stage I--2, stage II--5, stage III--2 and stage IV--1 patient). In the study group, medical advice was sought 4.5 times more frequently than in controls.