Klin Onkol 1995; 8(6): 172-176.
Summary: Breast cancer comprises 16% of the overall cancer incidence and and inflicts high mortality on the women of Slovakia. This is the consequence of the gradual increase of age-adjusted incidence rates, which have recently affected more than 38 in 100,000 women. Moreover, a simultaneous and parallel increase in mortality was observed during the studied period, 1969-1990, despite improvements in treatment. The analysis of detailed data from the National Cancer Registry of Slovakia showed that the cause of breast cancer mortality is the considerably high and unchanged proportion of late diagnosis, i.e. advanced clinical stages at the time of diagnosis. The only immediate possibility to achieve a down-staging of this disease, and thereby reduce mortality, seems to require dramatic improvement of health education, mainly through the routine perfomance of effective breast self-examination, and through an introduction of regular medical examinations of women in specialized outpatient clinics. Because of the unfavorable distribution of clinical stages of this disease in Slovakia, the possibilities and benefits of mammography screening are limited.
