The first national public breast cancer screening program in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background and objectives: Despite its relatively low incidence in Saudi Arabia, breast cancer has been the most common cancer among Saudi females for the past 12 consecutive years. The objective of this study was to report the results of the first national public breast cancer screening program in Saudi Arabia.

Methods: Women 40 years of age or older underwent breast cancer screening. Mammograms were scored using the Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS). Correlations between imaging findings, risk factors and pathological findings were analyzed.

Results: Between September 2007 and April 2008, 1215 women were enrolled. The median age was 45 years, and median body mass index was 31.6 kg/m 2 . Sixteen cases of cancer were diagnosed. No cancer was diagnosed in 942 women with R1/R2 scores, and only 1 case of cancer was diagnosed in 228 women with R0/R3 scores. However, among 26 women with R4/R5 scores, 50% had malignant disease and 35% had benign lesions. No correlation was found between known risk factors and imaging score or cancer diagnosis.

Conclusions: Public acceptance of the breast cancer screening program was encouraging. Longitudinal follow-up will help in better determining the risk factors relevant to our patient population.