Breast Cancer Screening in Low-Income Countries: A New Program for Downstaging Breast Cancer in Tanzania

Cherlin, Darcy S.; Mwaiselage, Julius; Msami, Khadija; Heisler, Zoe; Young, Heather M.; Cui, Qingwei; Soliman, Amr S.

doi:10.1155/2022/9795534

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Breast Cancer involves the organized checking of women's breasts for cancer before there are signs or symptoms of the disease [14]. According to WHO, the organized and effective screening program is the one in which the participation rate (number of invitees screened) of the target population is over 70% [18].…”

Section: Current Situation Of Breast Cancer Screening and Diagnosis P...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even though breast cancer screening cannot prevent the occurrence of breast cancer it can help detecting it early if there are any symptoms of breast cancer and when it is easier to be treated. In Tanzania, different studies about breast-cancer have been performed but currently, there is no systematically organized screening program that performs breast cancer screening for the whole country except some studies [14] (the study carried at Ocean Road Cancer Institute is the national cancer center), the one carried in this study and other related studies. They highlight the status of breast cancer in certain localized places and sometimes are not fully focused on screening.…”

Section: Current Situation Of Breast Cancer Screening and Diagnosis P...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Profiling of Breast Cancer Prevalence and Its Diagnosis using Varied Imaging Techniques in Tanzania

Mzurikwao,

Sakafu,

Mayala

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Breast cancer is not only the most commonly occurring cancer among women, but also the most frequent cause of the cancer-related deaths in women in developing countries. Mortality rate is marginally higher in developing countries than in developed countries with about 60% of the death occurring in developing countries. In Tanzania for example, breast cancer is the second leading cancer in terms of incidence and mortality among women after cervical cancer. Approximately half of all women diagnosed with breast cancer in Tanzania die of the disease. This is due to poor and shortage of medical facilities for cancer screening and diagnosis, poor number of oncologists and pathologists, and the diagnosis costs in the country. Due to the mentioned factors, it is approximated that, 80% of breast cancer cases in in Tanzania are diagnosed at advanced stages (III or IV), when treatment is less effective, and outcomes are poor. By 2030, new breast cancer cases are approximated to increase by 82% in Tanzania. The diagnosis/screening of breast cancer starts with breast imaging with ultrasound and mammograms. Suspected cases are then subjected into pathology for confirmatory tests. Although breast imaging plays a major role in both breast cancer screening and diagnosis, the service is largely not available in many developing countries. Our study found absence of routinely breast cancer screening in Tanzania, resulting in late-stage detection of many cases. This is mainly due to lack of enough well-trained radiologists to read the images and the costs of the process. This study aimed at exploring the role and challenges of breast imaging in the screening and diagnosis of breast cancer in Tanzania, a developing country. Our results found that, there is a significant number of malignancies under the recommended age of breast cancer screening of fifty (50) years of age. Our study also found a very high Inter variability among radiologists, which suggest the necessity of at least two radiologists reading same case before conclusion of the diagnosis. This study also discovered in our sample size that 66% patients did not have their samples taken for confirmation by the pathologists. This might be due to the costs of the process or loss of follow ups as many patients came far from diagnosis Centre. Due to the challenges observed in breast imaging, this study recommends the use of Computer Aided Diagnosis (CAD) with Artificial Intelligence to assist the few numbers of radiologists available.

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Section: Current Situation Of Breast Cancer Screening and Diagnosis P...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Current Situation Of Breast Cancer Screening and Diagnosis P...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Profiling of Breast Cancer Prevalence and Its Diagnosis using Varied Imaging Techniques in Tanzania

Mzurikwao,

Sakafu,

Mayala

et al. 2024

Preprint

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“…In Tanzania there are community outreach programs through media led health communication strategy for cancer awareness creation and promotion of cancer screening uptake. ORCI has a mobile screening program with a target to reach communities living in the rural areas (5). Although these initiatives are implemented with limited evaluation of its implementation, it is assumed that the program increases access, promotes awareness, and encourages screening and early detection.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strengthening uptake of Breast Cancer Screening Services in Tanzania; Re-visiting the Breast Cancer Screening Messages

Msami,

Nyamle,

Ruwaichi

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Background Breast Cancer remains among the top five cancers responsible for morbidity and mortality globally. Initially thought to be a disease for women in high income countries due to low rate of breast feeding, it is now equally affecting Low- and Middle-income countries with Tanzania included. While evidence is vast on the role of breast cancer screening messages to; promote screening, debunk myths, and address barriers to uptake of breast cancer services, context-specific messages are limited. Amidst the changing technology, growth of social media and the cultural dynamics context-specific breast cancer screening messages is inevitably needed. We aimed to analyze the breast cancer screening communication messages by analyzing the experiences of women seeking care at Ocean Road Cancer Institute, in Tanzania Methods An exploratory case study using a qualitative approach was used. Study participants were purposefully selected from two major groups, younger women than the age recommended for Breast Cancer Screening (BCS) and older women who fit the age for breast cancer screening. We purposefully consecutively recruited and conducted in depth interviews until information saturation was attained. We reached information saturation at the 18th interview. Additionally, we conducted three focus group discussions with 16 participants from young women attending breast cancer examination clinics, women with breast cancer and older women without breast cancer. Data analysis followed qualitative content analysis with subcategories and categories emerging from the data. Findings Three main categories emerged: the existence of multiple sources of breast cancer screening messages, the strengths and weaknesses of breast cancer screening messages and clients' mixed perceptions on breast cancer screening messages. The existence of multiple sources of BCS messages was attributed to mass media outlets, social networks, religious gatherings, health facilities and outreach clinics. Strengths and weaknesses of breast cancer screening messages were attributed to the fact that messages were incomplete, Messages gave important information about cancers, and messages raised awareness on cancer screening. Clients’ mixed perceptions on breast cancer screening was attributed to perceptions that messages encourage women to go for breast cancer screening, messages were perceived to instill fear and worries and messages were perceived to promote early detection over screening. Conclusion Findings of this study depict that although breast cancer screening promotion messages are regarded as a source of information about cancers; they fall short of completeness and relevance to the otherwise at-risk population, and triggers negative perceptions toward screening. Therefore, this study calls for revisiting the breast cancer screening messages, employing participatory approaches to tailor the screening messages and communication media to fit specific audiences. This calls for re-designing both the content of the messages and means of delivery and thus collaborative efforts are needed.

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“…The purpose is to inform the development of a multilevel intervention in breast cancer awareness and early detection in rural Tanzania, where the risk for late detection of breast cancer is higher compared to their urban counterparts [ 20 ]. The current study addressed the following specific research question guided by the socio-ecological model [ 3 ]: What are the reported challenges/barriers to breast cancer awareness and early screening among midlife women aged 40–65 years old in rural Tanzania? We focused on midlife women as one of the most common affected age group in Tanzania [ 3 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The current study addressed the following specific research question guided by the socio-ecological model [ 3 ]: What are the reported challenges/barriers to breast cancer awareness and early screening among midlife women aged 40–65 years old in rural Tanzania? We focused on midlife women as one of the most common affected age group in Tanzania [ 3 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-level barriers to early detection of breast cancer among rural midlife women in Tanzania: A qualitative case study

Nyamhanga,

Eustace,

Makoye

et al. 2024

PLoS ONE

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Background Breast cancer is the second most common cause of cancer mortality among women in Tanzania and thus, early detection and treatment methods are central to improving breast cancer outcomes. However, in low- and middle-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, the survival rates remains low due to late presentation. Hence, a significant number of deaths could be prevented if barriers and facilitators to early detection are known. Purpose This qualitative case descriptive study explored the possible barriers to awareness and early breast cancer diagnostic services among midlife women in rural Tanzania. Methods Ten key informant interviews with health systems managers and community health workers and eight focus group discussions with women aged 40–65 years and their spouses were conducted to elicit the study data conducted from July to August 2021. Results The data revealed nine themes describing the barriers to early detection methods across five Socio-Ecological levels of influence, namely: 1) limited knowledge and 2) witchcraft beliefs (individual level); 3) limited male support (interpersonal level); 4) age and gender factors and 5) procrastination (community level) 6) limited availability of services 7) emphasis of curative over preventive care (institutional level); 8) poverty/inability to pay and 9) limitations of health insurance (societal/policy level). Conclusions The study findings suggest a need to further the design, implementation and evaluation of evidence-based community breast health awareness and education interventions to promote early detection of breast cancer in Tanzania. Specifically, the study highlights the need to address multiple level determinants of influence in breast cancer control as part of the country’s Community Health Strategy.

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Breast Cancer Screening in Low-Income Countries: A New Program for Downstaging Breast Cancer in Tanzania

Cited by 6 publications

References 19 publications

Profiling of Breast Cancer Prevalence and Its Diagnosis using Varied Imaging Techniques in Tanzania

Profiling of Breast Cancer Prevalence and Its Diagnosis using Varied Imaging Techniques in Tanzania

Strengthening uptake of Breast Cancer Screening Services in Tanzania; Re-visiting the Breast Cancer Screening Messages

Multi-level barriers to early detection of breast cancer among rural midlife women in Tanzania: A qualitative case study

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