Dr Kamaldeen Jimoh, a consultant radiologist, on Monday called on women between the ages of 40 years and above to go for yearly breast cancer test as a preventive measure.

Jimoh, who made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ilorin, said that that the test would detect any cancerous growth early enough.

Jimoh, a consultant with the Kwara Advanced Diagnostic Centre, also urged women below 40 years to go for regular ultra sound examination.

"We advise women from the age of 40 to have yearly mammography examination, apart from ultra sound that is offered for those who are below 40 years.

"The essence of this, is to make sure that whatever is in the breast will be discovered; if it is there, it can be discovered, even if the woman cannot feel it, it can be discovered at a very early stage and the associated effects can be worked upon because the woman will be attended to adequately.

"Women under 40 are in two categories. There are some women, who do not have any history of breast cancer in their families, but need to just want to do a check up; such women could go for ultra sound.

"Or maybe, the young girl discovers something in her breast that she feels was not there before; she can come for ultra sound because at that stage the breast is so firm. It might not be easy to see everything on mammography."

The consultant said women whose mothers had breast cancer should go for regular checks because the predisposition had occurred.

"If we see anything, even if the woman is below 40, we will still go ahead and do mammography test to make sure that we characterise the patient because the person already had the predisposition to breast cancer."

According to him, men do not require mammography but in a situation where a man discovers he has swollen breasts, he should go for mammography examination.

He said a case of swollen breast in men could be caused by drugs, cancer in another part of the body or could be the onset of breast cancer itself.

"This category of men needs to do mammography or breast ultra sound. If the swelling is found to be caused by drugs, there will be need to give an alternative.

"The incidence of breast cancer in men is very low compared to women, but the devastating effect is that when it occurs in men, it is very huge."

Jimoh said the Kwara Advanced Diagnostic Centre had the capacity carry out mammography examination and refer patients to consultants for treatment. (NAN)