Electrical impedance mammography : the key to low-cost, portable and non-invasive breast cancer screening?

Abstract

Breast cancer is a major public health problem with 1.7 million cases diagnosed per year and is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women worldwide (Siegel, Miller & Jemal, 2016). The two main determinants of survival are early detection and optimal treatment. Despite the advances in medicine, breast cancer is detected at advanced stages in developing countries (DCs) because early detection, diagnosis and treatment cannot be efficiently promoted. Thus, disease burden is particularly high in DCs, where more than half of breast cancer cases and 62% of the deaths now occur. The “Breast Health Global Initiative” (BHGI) evaluated the complexity of healthcare systems in relation to breast cancer. Specifically, at the basic level, breast self- examination is encouraged, whereas diagnostic ultrasound and X-ray mammography are available at a limited level. At the increased level, patients have access to diagnostic mammography with opportunistic breast screening, and at a maximum level, the population undergoes organized screening for breast cancer (Anderson et al., 2006).