Breast cancer cultural representations: a scoping review

Abstract

This article aims to map the global scientific production on social or cultural representations and breast cancer in Public Health and discuss how it is presented in the literature. We conducted a scoping review guided by the question: “How are cultural or social representations in the context of breast cancer described in the global scientific Public Health production?”. We searched for works in five scientific literature sources and included 45 studies. The analytical process followed the content analysis technique in the thematic modality. The analyzed collection can be thematized into the following categories: (1) Compromised body image and interactions, (2) Spirituality, (3) Loss of control over life, (4) Going on with life, and (5) Association with ethnic-racial issues. Despite advances in biomedicine, we observed that representations of breast cancer still have metaphors associated with cancer in the last century. We conclude that, among other aspects, care for women with breast cancer cannot be guided only by biomedical and epidemiological approaches since this disease is traversed by knowledge that competes with these approaches.

Key words:
Breast cancer; Cultural representations; Social representations; Symbolic dimension