Abstract
This study aimed to estimate the survival rate of breast cancer in a group of patients followed up at the Yaounde General Hospital in Cameroon. A retrospective review of records of patients managed for breast cancer between 1995 and 2007 was carried out at the Yaounde General Hospital. Survival analysis was carried out with survival defined as the time between the date of unequivocal diagnosis of cancer and the date of last follow-up or death. Survival curves were plotted in R.3.1.1 software. Mean age of the patients was 47.5 ± 12.36 years. Most of the patients (67.9%) presented with advanced breast cancer disease (stage III and IV). Overall patient survival rate was 30% at 5 years and 13.2% at 10 years. Median overall survival time was 2 (1.9 - 3) years. There was a correlation between survival and the stage of disease. The highest survival rates were recorded in stages I and II while the lowest rates were recorded in stage IV. There was no statistically significant difference in survival among the age groups (p = 0.15). Overall survival rates of breast cancer are 30% at 5 years and 13.2% at 10 years among Cameroonian patients and are lower compared with 90% and 82% respectively at 5 years and 10 years in some developed countries.
Highlights
Breast cancer is the most frequent cancer of women worldwide with up to a million cases occurring annually [1]
This discordance in incidence and survival is largely related to the lack of organized mammographic screening in developing countries, the advanced stage at diagnosis (>60% of patients are diagnosed with stage III/IV breast cancer in the developing countries), poor access to care, and substandard treatment regimens [4]-[7]
Between January 1995 and December 2007, 404 breast cancer patients were followed at the Yaoundé General Hospital (YGH)
Summary
Breast cancer is the most frequent cancer of women worldwide with up to a million cases occurring annually [1]. More than half of all new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in the industrialized world (i.e. North America excluding Mexico and Western Europe), more than three quarters of breast cancer related deaths occur in the developing countries. This discordance in incidence and survival is largely related to the lack of organized mammographic screening in developing countries, the advanced stage at diagnosis (>60% of patients are diagnosed with stage III/IV breast cancer in the developing countries), poor access to care, and substandard treatment regimens [4]-[7]. The data are helpful in making informed decisions to ensure improved and equitable cancer care [8]
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