Characteristics of invasive breast cancer and overall survival of patients eligible for mass breast cancer screening in Guadeloupe compared to those of the preceding age group

Abstract

BackgroundMass breast cancer screening is offered to French women between the ages of 50 and 74. In the French overseas department of Guadeloupe, where the population is of mostly African ancestry, a low age at diagnosis of breast cancer has been reported, as for African-Americans. This raises the question of whether breast cancer is more aggressive in the age group preceding that eligible for mass screening (40–49) in Guadeloupe. MethodsWe compared the tumor-related prognostic factors, first line therapy and overall survival rates of breast cancer cases diagnosed between the 40–49 and 50–74 age groups, based on reports of the cancer registry of Guadeloupe for the period 2008–2013. ResultsThe characteristics studied, risk of death after breast cancer (HR 0.84 [95% CI: 0.58-1.22] and overall survival, did not differ significantly between the two groups, except for higher tumor size (28.8 vs 24.0; p=0.004) in the younger group. ConclusionThese results do not show a pattern of more aggressive breast cancer in the age group preceding that eligible for mass screening in Guadeloupe.