Pattern and Clinicopathological Features of Breast Carcinoma Among Patients Attending Federal Medical Centre, Makurdi, Nigeria: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed malignancy among women worldwide and remains a major public health challenge in low- and middle-income countries with reported incidence of 20 million individuals annually with 2.3 million been breast cancer. This retrospective hospital-based study evaluated the clinicopathological pattern of breast cancer among patients managed at the Federal Medical Centre, Makurdi, Nigeria between January 2023 and December 2025. Methodology: Sociodemographic and clinicopathological data were retrieved from archived histopathology records and analyzed using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Chi-square tests, with statistical significance set at p < 0.05. Results: A total of 90 histologically confirmed breast cancer cases were included. The highest proportion of patients was aged 40–49 years (31.1%), and females accounted for 97.8% of cases. Invasive ductal carcinoma was the predominant histological subtype (83.3%), followed by invasive lobular carcinoma (10.0%), while Nottingham Grade II was the most common histological grade. No significant associations were observed between histological grade and tumour size (ANOVA: F = 1.083, p = 0.366) or lymph node involvement (χ2 = 1.953, p = 0.582). Conclusion: Identified breast cancer cases was predominantly characterized by invasive ductal carcinoma and moderately differentiated tumours. Histological grade was not significantly associated with tumour size or lymph node involvement, emphasizing the need for comprehensive clinicopathological assessment to support prognosis and clinical decision- making.