ABSTRACT
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. It has become possible to diagnose breast cancer early due to effective screening and patient education which became a worldwide practice. National breast cancer screening program in Bahrain was implemented in 2005. To determine the incidence of early, locally advanced and systemically advanced breast cancer patients. Department of Surgery, Salmaniya Medical Complex, Bahrain. Retrospective study. One hundred and sixty-one patients seen between January 2000 and August 2011 were included in the study. One hundred fifteen [71.4%] patients had early breast cancer. Twenty-six [16.2%] patients had locally advanced cancer and twenty [12.4%] had systemically advanced breast cancer. Patients were divided into two groups: group A, [below 50 years] were 87 [54%] and group B [50 years and above] were 74 [46%] patients. Early stage was diagnosed in 68 [78.2%] patients less than 50 years and 47 [63.5%] patients in 50 years or older. There was no significant relation between the stage and the duration of symptoms, marital status, presence or absence of child birth or family history of breast cancer. The incidence of early breast cancer detection in Bahrain is higher than advanced stage. These results might have been secondary to the implementation of the National Breast Cancer Screening Program, as well as the growing health awareness of the general population in regular breast self-examination and early presentation to specialized breast surgeons