There are many myths about breast cancer, particularly in Africa with its rich diversity of people, different genetic backgrounds and ancestral histories.
An advertising campaign from the US, for example, asserts that 1 in every 8 women will develop breast cancer during their lifetime.
This statistic has pervaded the rest of the world, where it is accepted as fact. But in sub-Saharan Africa, the lifetime risk of a woman developing breast cancer is much lower. In South Africa, for example, the lifetime risk of a black woman developing breast cancer is 1 in 43.
