Breast cancer in a teaching hospital in Saudi Arabia

Clinical and pathological data of 56 cases of breast cancer in our hospital are presented. Our impression of low case incidence of the disease has been confirmed, even though breast cancer ranks highest of all female malignancies in Saudi Arabia. The disease is common in younger age groups, with over half of the cases presenting late and with advanced disease [Stage III or IV]. Pain as a presenting symptom appeared unusually frequently in this study and possible causes of this pain are discussed