Background There is uncertainty about the effectiveness of clinical breast examination (CBE) and conflicting recommendations regarding its usefulness as a screening tool for breast cancer. This paper provides an overview of systematic reviews that assessed the effectiveness of CBE as a ‘stand-alone’ screening modality for breast cancer compared to no screening and focused on its value in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews for systematic reviews reporting the effectiveness of CBE published prior to October 29, 2019. The main outcomes assessed were mortality and down staging. The AMSTAR 2 checklist was used to assess the methodological quality of the reviews including risk of bias. Results Eleven systematic reviews published between 1993 and 2019 were identified. There was no direct evidence that CBE reduced breast cancer mortality. Indirect evidence suggested that a well-performed CBE achieved the same effect as mammography regarding mortality despite its apparently lower sensitivity (40–69% for CBE vs 77–95% for mammography). Greater sensitivity was recorded among younger and Asian women. Moreover, CBE contributed between 17 and 47% of the shift from advanced to early stage cancer. Conclusions CBE merits attention from health system and service planners in LMICs where a national screening programme based on mammography would be prohibitively expensive. In particular, it is likely that considerable value would be gained from conducting implementation scientific research in countries with large numbers of Asian women and/or where younger women are at higher risk. Registration PROSPERO, registration number CRD42019126798.

Background: Breast cancer incidence has been increasing consistently in Vietnam. Thus far, there have been no analytical reviews of research produced within this area. Objectives: We sought to analyse the nature andextent of empirical studies about breast cancer in Vietnam, identifying areas for future research and systemsstrengthening. Methods: We undertook a scoping study using a five-stage framework to review published and grey literature in English and Vietnamese on breast cancer detection, diagnosis and treatment. We focused specifically on research discussing the health system and service provision. Results: Our results show that breast cancer screening is limited, with no permanent or integrated national screening activities. There is a lack of information on screening processes and on the integration of screening services with other areas of the health system. Treatment is largely centralised, and across all services there is a lack of evaluation and data collection that would be informative for recommendations seeking to improve accessibility and quality of breast cancer services. Conclusions: This paper is the first scoping review of breast cancer services in Vietnam. It outlines areas for future focus for policy makers and researchers with the objective of strengthening service provision to women with breast cancer across the country while also providing a methodological example for how to conduct a collaborative scoping review.