Clinico-morphological pattern of breast lump in tertiary care hospital

Background: For developing countries, where the facility for detecting cancer at an early stage is not possible, symptomatic findings can be used as an indication for early diagnosis which could prevent the women from late stage presentation of disease. Aim: To describe some of the clinico-morphological features of the breast lump cases seen at a tertiary level hospital. Material and Methods: In clinically selected 100 cases, triple approach including clinical examination coupled with ultrasonographic examination (USG) and mammography was also carried out. USG was carried out to assess the extent of the axillary lymph nodes more precisely. Diagnosis was confirmed by core-cut biopsy, tru-cut biopsy and frozen section biopsy. Results: Out of 52 clinically diagnosed as carcinomas 50 were proved correct on histopathologically while 86 fibroadenomas diagnosed on clinical examination 2 turned out to be malignant on histopathology. Conclusion: Patients of breast cancer are coming to a tertiary level hospital very late, mostly with clinical features of advanced disease. Understanding its clinical and morphological features holds a great promise for early detection and prevention of this cancer.