Studies have suggested a predominance of premenopausal breast cancer in black compared to white women. The aim of the study was to compare the age specific incidence of breast cancer in Nigerian and British women.

The mean age at presentation was 43.1 and 64 years for Jos (Nigeria) and Norfolk (United Kingdom), respectively. The age specific incidence rates were higher in women above 50 years compared to women less than 50 years of age in both populations. The odds of having breast cancer for women aged less than 50 years is 3.0 times higher in Norfolk (95% Confidence Interval 2.0–4.4) than Jos and 9.0 times higher for women over 50 years of age in Norfolk (95% Confidence Interval 5.3–18.3) than Jos.

The age specific incidence rates are higher for postmenopausal women in both populations; with higher rates for all age groups in the United Kingdom population.