A Profile of Female Breast Cancer Patients in a Kenyan Urban Private Hospital

Abstract

Introduction: Bre ast cancer is one of the commonest cancers in Kenya withvery devastating outcomes due to poor screening and low aware- ness amongst women. In Kenya outsi de Nai robi there are no org anized bre ast care cli nics in public hospit als which can help to easen the bre ast disease burden. It was in view of this that department of surg ery decided to set up a breast cli nic at Kisii Level 5 Hospital to cater for the popula- tion in the south western Kenya region.An audit was done to assess the pro gress of the clinic.Result s: 103 patie nts were seen over a three month period with anaverage of 10.3 patie nts per cli nic vis it. Benign breast conditio ns were commonest condition with 27% of this being fibroadenomas. Twenty twopercent of patients had malignant disease with 79% presenting in stage 3and 4. Challenges encountered in clu ded lack of ra dio therapy and chemotherapy. Conclusion: Breast disease in resource limited facilities is sizeable and central ized breast management centers is neces sa ry and possib le . Mentorship and supportof newly developing bre ast clinics is essential for their success. ​