Screening and diagnosis of breast cancer in low-resource countries: what is state of the art?

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women worldwide; there has been a significant increase in the incidence of breast cancer in low-resource countries, with a disproportionately greater mortality rate compared to high-resource countries attributed to a lack of public awareness of the disease, absence of organized screening programs, and lack of accessible and effective treatment options. Mammography is not a cost-effective or a feasible option for screening and early detection of breast cancer in low-resource countries. A triple test assessment approach of screening clinical breast examination, diagnostic breast ultrasound, and ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology may be a feasible option for the early detection of breast cancer.