title: Screening and diagnosis of breast cancer in low-resource countries: what is state of the art?
abstract: Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women worldwide; there has been a significant increase in the incidence of breast cancer in low-resource countries, with a disproportionately greater mortality rate compared to high-resource countries attributed to a lack of public awareness of the disease, absence of organized screening programs, and lack of accessible and effective treatment options. Mammography is not a cost-effective or a feasible option for screening and early detection of breast cancer in low-resource countries. A triple test assessment approach of screening clinical breast examination, diagnostic breast ultrasound, and ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology may be a feasible option for the early detection of breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA. mshetty@womensradiology.com
authors.forename: Mahesh K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Shetty
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D001940:Breast / Q000473:pathology; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003906:Developing Countries; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D010173:Palpation; D016217:Ultrasonography, Mammary / Q000379:methods*