SIMULTANEOUS BILATERAL MALIGNANT BREAST NEOPLASMS IN NIGERIAN WOMEN

This study reviews the clinicopathological features and survival of 18 Nigerian women with simultaneous bilateral breast cancer. Twelve (67% ) of these patients had bilateral Burkitt's lymphoma of the breast. Th e average age of these patients was 22 years, and all of the women wer e pregnant or lactating at the time of initial clinical presentation. The remaining six patients (33%) had bilateral malignant epithelial ne oplasms, with lobular carcinoma being present in four cases. The avera ge age of patients with bilateral malignant epithelial tumors was 37 y ears. None of the 18 patients with simultaneous bilateral breast cance r survived for up to 2 years after diagnosis, indicating that bilatera l synchronous breast cancer in Nigerian women is a rapidly progressive and aggressive disease.