The presentation of breast cancer in an Oriental community.

A retrospective study was made of the presentation of breast cancer in Chinese women who were treated at the University Surgical Unit, Hong Kong, over a 20 year period (1971-90). Only 6% of patients presented with tumours less than 2 cm. Nearly half the patients presented with advanced disease. There was no tendency towards earlier presentation in the latter half of the study period. An increase in the number of patients treated for breast cancer was observed; the increase being seen mainly in postmenopausal women.