Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice towards breast cancer early detection methods among female health professionals at public health centers of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2017

Cancer is a group of diseases characterized by the uncontrolled growth and multiply of abnormal cells. If the spread is not controlled, it can result in death.1 Breast cancer (BC) is an explosion of malignant cells that arises in the breast tissue and the term represents a range of disease, from non-invasive to invasive carcinoma.2 One of the most commonly diagnosed cancers worldwide was breast cancer which accounts 1.7 million (11.9%) of the total, and it is increasing particularly in developing countries where the majority of cases are diagnosed in late stages.3,4 Breast cancer is the first most often occurring among women in Ethiopia. Thousands of more cases unreported as women living in rural areas often seek treatment from traditional healers before seeking help from medical centers.5 Data from the Addis Ababa population based cancer registry showed that breast and cervical cancers were the leading commonly diagnosed cancer comprising