Assessing the impact of cervical cancer education in two high schools in Ghana.

Background: Cervical cancer is one of the commonest female cancers in Ghana. However, it is preventable. Prevention through Human Papilloma Virus immunization and early detection by screening have their foundation in awareness and a good knowledge about the disease.

Health-seeking behaviour of breast cancer patients receiving care at a tertiary institution in Ghana.

Background: Breast cancer incidence rates are rising in Africa and mortality is highest in West Africa. Reasons for poor survival are multifactorial but delays in seeking appropriate health care result in late presentation which contributes significantly to poor outcomes. Total delays of more than 3 months have been associated with advanced stage at presentation and poorer survival.

Satisfaction levels and associated influencing factors among inpatients and outpatients with breast cancer at a tertiary health facility in Ghana.

Objectives: To uncover variables linked to breast cancer patient satisfaction in order to improve policy choices and actions for breast cancer care in Ghana.

Design: We employed a cross-sectional design using a quantitative approach.

Setting: The Radiotherapy, Oncology and Surgery Departments of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra.

Quality of Life after Mastectomy with or without Breast Reconstruction and Breast-Conserving Surgery in Breast Cancer Survivors: A Cross-Sectional Study at a Tertiary Hospital in Ghana.

(1) Background: Breast cancer is the leading malignancy worldwide, and in Ghana, it has a poor overall survival rate. However, approximately 50% of cases are cases of early-stage disease, and with advances in breast cancer treatment and improvements in survival, quality of life (QOL) is becoming as important as the treatment of the disease. (2) Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study of survivors who had breast-conserving surgery (BCS), mastectomy only (M) and mastectomy with breast reconstruction (BRS) from 2016 to 2020 at a tertiary hospital in Ghana, comparatively assessing their QOL using and (3) Results: The study participants had an overall (GHS) median score of 83.

Mosquito control exposures and breast cancer risk: analysis of 1071 cases and 2096 controls from the Ghana Breast Health Study.

Epidemiologic data on insecticide exposures and breast cancer risk are inconclusive and mostly from high-income countries. Using data from 1071 invasive pathologically confirmed breast cancer cases and 2096 controls from the Ghana Breast Health Study conducted from 2013 to 2015, we investigated associations with mosquito control products to reduce the spread of mosquito-borne diseases, such as malaria. These mosquito control products were insecticide-treated nets, mosquito coils, repellent room sprays, and skin creams for personal protection against mosquitos.

Impact of childhood and adolescence cancer on family caregivers: a qualitative analysis of strains, resources and coping behaviours.

Background: The physical demands of caring for children and adolescents diagnosed with cancer, over a lengthy period, exert significant strain on the health and well-being of family caregivers. The capacity of family caregivers to surmount and cope with the various strains they experience due to the diagnosis and treatment trajectory is essential to the quality of life of the child and adolescent who has been diagnosed with cancer. However, the experiences of family caregivers have been under-explored.

Impact of cancer diagnosis and treatment: a qualitative analysis of strains, resources and coping strategies among elderly patients in a rural setting in Ghana.

Background: Rurality is fraught with numerous difficulties including a lack of advanced health facilities to provide health services, and an absence of specialist cancer services, and qualified personnel, among others. These factors exacerbate the challenges of elderly patients diagnosed with cancer and further pose limitations to activities/instrumental activities of daily living. Yet, there is limited scholarship on the strains that affect elderly patients diagnosed with cancer and the resources that helps them to overcome them.

Expectations and barriers to the utilization of specialist palliative care services among persons living with cancer in Ghana: an exploratory qualitative study.

Background: The need for palliative care among patients living with cancer is increasing globally. This need is far greater in resource-constrained settings like Ghana where there is a high unmet need for palliative care services. Consequently, there are lapses in the current palliative care regime, thus, resulting in suboptimal utilization.

Associations of Circulating Estrogens and Estrogen Metabolites with Fecal and Oral Microbiome in Postmenopausal Women in the Ghana Breast Health Study.

The human fecal and oral microbiome may play a role in the etiology of breast cancer through modulation of endogenous estrogen metabolism. This study aimed to investigate associations of circulating estrogens and estrogen metabolites with the fecal and oral microbiome in postmenopausal African women. A total of 117 women with fecal (N = 110) and oral (N = 114) microbiome data measured by 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and estrogens and estrogen metabolites data measured by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry were included.

BRCA1 gene polymorphism and finger dermatoglyphic patterns in Ghanaian breast cancer patients: a quantitative cross-sectional approach.

Introduction: breast cancer development is linked to mutant single nucleotide polymorphism of breast cancer type 1 (BRCA1) gene usually harboured within exon 11. It has also been linked to finger dermatoglyphics where certain patterns have been associated with breast cancer. This study suggests a possible relationship between finger dermatoglyphic patterns and single nucleotide polymorphism of BRCA1 gene.

Clinicopathologic characteristics of early-onset breast cancer: a comparative analysis of cases from across Ghana.

Background: Breast cancer is the commonest cancer diagnosed globally and the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality among women younger than 40 years. This study comparatively reviewed the demographic, pathologic and molecular features of Early-Onset Breast Cancer (EOBC) reported in Ghana in relation to Late Onset Breast Cancer (LOBC).

Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional design was used, with purposive sampling of retrospective histopathology data from 2019 to 2021.

The impact of a breast cancer educational intervention in Ghanaian high schools.

Introduction: Globally breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer with an estimated 2.3 million new cases and 685,000 deaths in 2020. Late presentation is the hallmark of breast cancer in Ghana for which ignorance and fear are the major reasons fuelled largely by myths and misconceptions.

Measured body size and serum estrogen metabolism in postmenopausal women: the Ghana Breast Health Study.

Background: Several anthropometric measures have been associated with hormone-related cancers, and it has been shown that estrogen metabolism in postmenopausal women plays an important role in these relationships. However, little is known about circulating estrogen levels in African women, and the relevance to breast cancer or breast cancer risk factors. To shed further light on the relationship of anthropometric factors and estrogen levels in African women, we examined whether measured body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), height, and self-reported body size were associated with serum estrogens/estrogen metabolites in a cross-sectional analysis among postmenopausal population-based controls of the Ghana Breast Health Study.

Relation of circulating estrogens with hair relaxer and skin lightener use among postmenopausal women in Ghana.

Background: Hair relaxers and skin lighteners have been commonly used by African women, with suggestions that they may have hormonal activity.

Objectives: To investigate the relationship of hair relaxer and skin lightener use to serum estrogen/estrogen metabolite levels.

Methods: We utilized the postmenopausal population-based controls of the Ghana Breast Health Study to estimate adjusted geometric means (GM) and 95% confidence intervals of individual circulating estrogen levels by hair relaxer/skin lightener exposure categories.