Clinical measures to assess the practice and efficiency of breast self-examination.

If women examine their breasts thoroughly and regularly they may promptly recognize abnormal tissue changes. The level of skill and motivation required for effective breast self-examination (BSE), however, is very high. In a prospective study of 304 patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer, 165 (54%) claimed to practice BSE. On comparison with the remaining 139, the BSE practitioners reported their symptoms sooner than the nonpractitioners, and presented more often with clinically early tumors. There was, however, no difference in tumor size, and pathologic status of axillary nodes between the two groups. There were 60 patients who discovered the abnormalities during self-examination. On comparison with the remaining 244, significantly more BSE discoverers had shorter patient delay in presentation, but there was no significant difference in tumor size, clinical stage, and nodal status. It is concluded that these or similar clinical measures must be used in assessing the effectiveness of population-based BSE campaigns.