Abstract

Breast cancer (BC) is a public health concern in sub-Saharan Africa with rising incidence and mortality. In Niger, BC is identified as the leading cancer morbidity and mortality within female population. Its epidemiological literature remains limited or not structured. The aim of this work was to summarize evidence in relation to epidemiology of female breast cancer in Niger. The idea was to know how much was published and available on the topic and what the gaps are. This review was conducted by considering all articles published on the epidemiology of breast cancer in Niger using The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) model. A comprehensive search of material was performed using PubMed/Medline, African Journals Online, (AJOL), Web of Science, Google Scholar and Scopus/Elsevier. In total, 16 articles were initially screened, 14 full text articles were accessed for eligibility and 6 were included in the final review. None of the screened papers had clinical trial methodology or survival analysis. Moreover, no peer reviewed paper was found on breast cancer screening. The output of this review pointed out sustainable gaps in the field of epidemiology and public health research on BC in Niger. The country should have a national screening program and an updated analysis of cancer registry data. Effort is to be done on studies about cancer survival, feasibility and acceptability of alternative screening methods adapted to low-income countries, such as Niger.

Key words: Niger, breast cancer, public health, screening.