This study was aimed at utilizing retrospective descriptive data to evaluate the percentage of clinically benign breast lumps that turned out to be histologically malignant and the prevalence of positive tumour margins among the malignant cases. A total of 2,917 registered cases of excised breast lump at the Department of Pathology spanning January 2005 to December 2009 were reviewed to evaluate the presence of malignancy and positive margins. Three hundred and twenty-two (11.0%) of the excised breast lumps were found to contain malignant tumours, out of which 142(44.1%) had positive tumour margins. Size of primary tumour (p=0.001) and histologic subtype (p=0.002) showed significant positive and negative associations in relation to positive tumour margins respectively. No significant association was observed between the positive tumour margins and histologic grade (p=0.363).The study showed that clinically benign breast lumps could be malignant and not completely excised, therefore increasing the risk of local recurrence. Thus, it is recommended that all women with breast lumps have the triad (diagnostic workup) of clinical and radiological assessment, followed with histological studies.

Adequate knowledge of cervical cancer and the patronage of available screening services in developed countries resulted in a drastic reduction in the morbidity and mortality associated with the disease. In Ghana, cervical cancer is the leading cause of gynaecological cancer-related deaths and this calls for early detection and treatment of the premalignant lesions. The aim of the study was to assess the knowledge and acceptability of cervical cancer screening practices among female Original Research Article

Background. The safety of wide local excision as a standard surgical option for early stage breast cancer management in Ghana has not been evaluated. The aim of this study was to use retrospective histopathological descriptive study to evaluate the prevalence of positive tumor margins in wide local excision specimens and offer recommendations. Study design. We reviewed 147 breast lumps, following wide local excision, which were received in the Department of Pathology, for positive tumor margins. The data was analyzed using SPSS software (version 16). Results. A total of 2,751 female breast cancers were diagnosed during the study period, of which 147 (5.3%) were from wide local excisions (lumpectomies). Thirty-one (21.0%) had positive tumor margins. The mean age of women with positive margins was 53.4 (SD = 17.1) years. The mean size of primary tumor was 4.0 (SD = 2.1) cm, the majority (53.0%) of which were greater than 2.0 cm, but less than or equal to 5.0 cm (T2). A total of 26 (83.4%) of these tumors were invasive ductal carcinomas (NOS), 24 (92.3%) of the cases had combined Bloom-Richardson grading, and many, 10 (41.7%), were grade 1. Conclusion. Our study shows that 21.0% of all wide local excision biopsies had positive tumor margins, a figure that is comparable to those of other studies. Tumors with positive margins in this study were large, 4.0 cm (T2), and common in relatively young women. Treatment failure is therefore likely to occur in these patients.

Cervical cancer is a major cause of cancer related mortality in the developing countries, although preventable. The aim of this study was to use a retrospective descriptive study to determine the prevalence and the clinico-pathological characteristics of cervical cancer among genital tract ma-lignancies. This study reviewed all histologically confirmed female genital tract malignancies for cervical cancers from January 2002 to December 2011. The clinico-pathological features of women with cervical cancer were analyzed using SPSS software (version 18). A total of 1011(70.8%) out of 1,427 female genital tract malignancies were cervical cancers. The average prevalence of cervical cancer was 71.0%. The mean age of women with cervical cancer was 57.8(SD=13.8) years. The youngest patient was 22 years. The commonest (76.9%) presentation was bleeding per vaginalm followed by fungating cervical masses (12.4%). Majority (88.9%) of the bleeding were unprovoked and in postmenopausal women (98.8%). The major types of cervical cancers were Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) (90.1%) and adenocarcinoma (5.8%), both were common in the elderly. The com-mon histological subtypes of cervical cancers in the study were; keratinizing SCC (73.3%), non-keratinizing SCC (14.7%), endometroid adenocarcinoma (4.5%), adenosquamous carcinoma (2.6%) and basaloid SCC (1.4%). This study found high prevalence of cervical cancer among female geni-tal tract cancers in Accra Ghana. The women were relatively older and presented with advanced stage of the disease. SCC was the major histological type of cervical cancer.Keywords: Ghana, cervical cancer, postmenopausal, women, premalignant, genital tract

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