Breast cancer control programme in developing countries

Breast cancer is a very important health problem in developing countries, where its incidence has increased in the last decades. Mortality rates due to breast cancer have also increased, and the main reason for this is late diagnosis. The authors demonstrate that organizing programmes for early breast cancer detection is possible by making use of simple resources. A set of tiered interventions is proposed, stratified in levels of complexity: Level 1--Identification of abnormal breast by health professionals; Level 2--Medical assistance to women whose breast is considered abnormal, in order to diagnose and treat benign diseases and recognize suspect cases of cancer; Level 3--Management of the women with suspected or diagnosed breast cancer by a multidisciplinary team. Therefore, a proposal for wide action for breast cancer control in developing countries is presented.