Worldwide breast cancer is on of the leading cause of mortality among women. It is well
documented that early detection of breast cancer is accompanied with a better prognosis as regards
treatment and survival time. Unfortunately, the early diagnostic procedures are limited in
developing countries due to many barriers such as poverty, educational and cultural obstacles. This
study was conducted to assess knowledge attitude and practices of 126 young female employees
(<45 years) about breast self-examination (BSE) in Assiut. An educational training progmm
concerned with BSE was applied after testing their knowledge about BSE and breast cancer. Reevaluation
of their knowledge and attitude was done immediately after the program (posttest I) and
•
for another time after one month (posttest m. The results showed that knowledge, attitude and
practice ofBSE improved markedly after the program (p<O.OOI). There is a very highly significant
marked improvement in BSE knowledge and attitude from pretest to post test I and II . Forgetting
may lower the percentages of the responses in the posttest II but still the differences between pre
and posttest n is very highly significant (p<O.OOI).