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There is much concern over the apparent increasing cancer problem in Trinidad and Tobago. Breast cancer is the commonest cancer among females. We studied cancer cases in this country to see if there was need for concern. We analysed 22,704 cancers from 1995-2006 and found 3,427 cases of female breast cancer. We were startled to find a continual increase from 233 cases in 1995 to 352 cases in 2006: a 50% increase. This contrasts sharply with the United States where breast cancer rates have steadily declined since 2000, but is similar to other developing countries.
Apart from rising breast cancer rates, another striking difference among the cases studied was that, unlike Europe and North America, the highest number of cancers occurs in the 40-49-year-old age group. This is true for both women of Indian and African ancestry. This is mainly due to the effect of race. The median age at which breast cancer is detected among white American women is 61-62 years and among African Americans is 52-57 years. In our study, among women of African ancestry it was 54.0 and among women of Indian ancestry it was 53.0 years. The most frequently occurring age at diagnosis was 45 years among women of African ancestry and 44 years among women of Indian ancestry.... more>>
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