By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas’ failure to implement a national breast cancer screening policy is leaving women at risk of late diagnoses, according to Consultant Surgical Oncologist Dr Wesley Francis, who warned that the country continues to record some of the highest rates in the region despite recent years of stabilisation.

His comments come as October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, draws attention to the disease and the urgent need for early detection across The Bahamas.

Data from the Bahamas National Cancer Registry, obtained by The Tribune, showed the incidence rate reached at 103.6 per 100,000 in 2018 and 101 in 2019. Rates plunged to 71 in 2020, largely because of reduced screening during the COVID-19 pandemic, and have since stabilised between 65 and 77 per 100,000.

Dr Francis said the figures appear reliable and the registry’s data collection continues to expand and improve.

He added that cancer registries take time to develop reliable data. “Registries take about five years to data to mature. Now we started to see the maturation of this data,” he said.

However, he said breast cancer screening in The Bahamas is opportunistic, taking place only when women visit their doctors. He said there are no Ministry of Health guidelines requiring mammograms at a specific age, leaving many women unscreened.

“We don’t have that strict policy that govern breast cancer,” he said. 

“What happens is that we have opportunistic screening, because those set of patients who go and see their physicians, physicians screen them, but there’s no Ministry of Health guidelines to say every woman at the age of 40 should be screened.”

He said many women still undergo mammograms only after discovering a lump, meaning the tests are used for diagnosis rather than prevention. He urged stronger public education and a formal, nationwide screening programme to ensure earlier detection.

Dr Francis noted that breast cancer in The Bahamas tends to occur at younger ages than in the United States, with many cases seen in women aged 40 to 50 rather than 60 to 70. 

“I believe most of that is because of the role that genetics play in our country, more so than anywhere else,” he said.

A survival analysis by the Bahamas National Cancer Registry reviewed 960 cases diagnosed from 2018 onwards, including 948 females and 12 males. The median age at diagnosis was 57, with 68 per cent of patients older than 50.

At the time of review, 213 patients — 22 percent — had died. The average survival was 62 months, and the five-year survival rate stood at 74 percent, with the median survival not yet reached.

The study concluded that breast cancer remains a major national concern but noted that improving early detection and access to treatment could strengthen outcomes further.