Abstract
Objective: To describe the knowledge of undergraduate health students about self-care in the prevention of breast cancer. Methods: Cross-sectional and quantitative study carried out at a university center in Agreste, Pernambuco, with 285 students enrolled in nine different courses in the area of health sciences. Data collection took place after the participants' consent and used a questionnaire prepared by the authors, occurring in the months of August and September 2018. The collected data were stored in a bank in which descriptive statistics were used and concepts were attributed by grouping the results. for analysis. Results: It was observed that the knowledge about the measures of self-care and prevention of breast cancer, expressed by the students, was classified as insufficient, with a low frequency of the regular and excellent classifications and non-occurrence of results classified as excellent. Conclusion: It is understood that aspects related to health education for empowerment on issues of self-care are essential for the development of health-seeking behaviors to diseases of high prevalence in the female population, especially that of academics of health sciences for dealing directly with issues related to health and illness.