Benign breast disease in a West Indian population

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Pathology
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Breast lesion patterns vary significantly across different ethnic and geographic populations.
• Understanding these variations is crucial for accurate diagnosis and treatment of breast diseases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the epidemiological patterns of breast lesions in West Indian women from Trinidad.
• To compare these patterns with those reported in other populations, particularly white, Indian, and African women.
• To identify common breast lesions and assess the malignancy rates within this demographic.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective review of 1726 cases of breast lesions was conducted.
• Data on lesion type, patient demographics, and malignancy were collected and analyzed.
• Statistical comparison with existing literature was performed.

Main Results:

• Fibro-adenoma was the most frequent lesion (39.3%), followed by mammary dysplasia (32%) and carcinoma (21%).
• The disease pattern observed in West Indian women differed significantly from white populations but was similar to Indian and African populations.
• Nearly 40% of true neoplasms were malignant, despite carcinoma comprising only 21% of all lesions.

Conclusions:

• The high incidence of fibro-adenoma in adolescent women contributes to the distinct breast lesion pattern in this population.
• All suspicious breast lumps in black women warrant biopsy for definitive diagnosis.
• Further analysis of benign breast lesion morphology may help identify precursors to breast cancer.