Guidelines for breast cancer screening in Lebanon Public Health Communication

The accumulation of national epidemiological data since the late 1990s has led to the adoption of evidence-based guidelines for breast cancer screening in Lebanon (2006). Almost 50% of breast cancer patients in Lebanon are below the age of 50 years and the age-adjusted incidence rate is estimated at 69 new cases per 100,000 per year (2004). This official notification calls for breast self-examination (BSE) every month starting age 20, and a clinical breast examination (CBE) performed by a physician every three years between the ages of 20 and 40 years. Starting age 40, and for as long as a woman is in good health, an annual CBE and mammography are recommended. Women with known genetic family history of breast cancer should start screening 10 years earlier than the first young patient in the family, or earlier depending on medical advice. The Breast Cancer National Task Force (BCNTF) recommends certification of mammography centers and continued training of personnel to assure high quality mammograms, and to minimize unnecessary investigations and surgeries.It recommends that a national program should record call-backs of women for annual screening and follow-up data on abnormal mammograms. BCNTF encourages the adoption of these guidelines and monitoring of their results, as well as follow-up of breast cancer epidemiology and registry in Lebanon, and scientific progress in early breast cancer detection to determine needs for modifications in the future.