Maggi Banning
Pakistan is a developing country that has the highest rate of breast cancer in Asia . This is reflected in the age standardised ratio is 69.1 per 100,000 averaged from 1998 -2002 . Women as young as aged 21 years develop breast cancer . This is possibly the youngest reported case of breast cancer in Asia. In Pakistan, women of young age also present at with advanced and aggressive forms of breast cancer which negatively impact on prognosis. Reasons for the delay in seeking treatment may relate to the negative social-cultural perception of cancer and inherent fear of families response to cancer. It is also due to a fear of an unknown, unrecognised disease that women may not have heard of before as a result of no family history.
