Epidemiological, Clinical, Radiological and Histopathological Aspects of Female Breast Cancer in the Gbêkê Region (Bouaké)

Breast cancer is the leading cancer among women in Côte d’Ivoire. The majority of studies on female cancer in Côte d’Ivoire have been carried out in Abidjan, the country’s economic capital. Existing studies do not include aspects related to the use of hormonal contraceptives or the BIRADS classification in the Gbêkê region, whose capital city is Bouaké. The aim of the work was to determine the epidemiological, radiological and histopathological features of female breast cancer in Bouaké. This cross-sectional study was carried out over a period of 16 months (September 2023-January 2025). The patients came from the five screening and management sites for breast pathologies in the Gbêkê region. These sites were supported by the gynecology, medical oncology, radiology and pathology services of the Teaching Hospital of Bouaké. The study population consisted of 43 patients with breast cancer. The average age was 43.8 ± 11.0 with extremes at 24 and 71 years. The participants were predominantly multiparous (62.8%) and premenopausal (72.1%) women. Nearly half of them were unemployed (46.5%). The frequency of contraceptive use was 9.3%. The radiological data were used to classify breast tumors according to the Breast Imaging Reporting And Data System (BIRADS). The BIRADS 4 group was widely encountered in these patients (79.1%), followed by BIRADS 5 group (20.9%). The histopathological examination revealed a predominance of non-specific infiltrating carcinomas (95.3%). However, these carcinomas were not statistically related to the menopausal status (p = 0.368) of the affected women. The creation of a cancer institute with specialized units in Bouaké would improve patient care.