KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE OF SCREENING FOR BREAST AND CERVICAL CANCERS AMONG WOMEN IN UYO, AKWA IBOM STATE

📄 Project Abstract

Cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells anywhere in the body. The abnormal cells are termed malignant or misnomer cells (Dugdale, 2010). Cancer is a group of more than 200 diseases characterized by unregulated growth of cells. It can in persons of all ages and all races and is a major health problem in many countries worldwide. It is known to be the most feared of all diseases, feared far more than heart diseases (Seeley, Stephen & Tate, 2010). These authors viewed cancer as synonymous with death, pain, disfigurement and dependency. Hippocrates coined the word carcinoma, meaning a tumour that spreads and destroys the host. However, ancient Egyptians and later Galen described cancer as being crablike in nature because cancerous tumours stick onto the body and prey on the flesh like crabs. They grasp the tissues they invade and cause pain that is throbbing, creeping, gnawing the flesh and resembling the pinching of a crab (Dugdale, 2010). In the females, the most occurring ...