Background:

Breast cancer is by far the most frequent cancer among women, with an estimated 1.38 million new cases diagnosed in 2008. It forms about 23 percent of all cancers. It is now the most common cancer both in developed and developing regions with about 6,90,000 new cases estimated in each region. Incidence rates vary from 19.3 per lac women in Eastern Africa to 89.7 per lac women in western Europe. The range of mortality rate is much less approximately around 15 per lac because of more favourable survival in developed countries. As a result, breast cancer ranks as the fifth cause of death from cancer, but is stil the most frequent cause of cancer death in women in developing regions.