Impact of an Early Detection Program on Breast Cancer Services, Incidence, and Stage in Rural Rwanda

Abstract

Purpose In low-income countries, most women with breast cancer present with advanced-stage disease. To facilitate earlier diagnoses of symptomatic disease, feasible and effective early detection strategies are needed. We assessed health care use and patient outcomes from a randomized pilot study of an early detection program in Burera, a rural Rwandan district, where the Butaro Cancer Center of Excellence (BCCOE) is located. Methods The intervention included training for community health workers in breast health, training for health center (HC) nurses in the evaluation of breast concerns, and weekly breast clinics at HCs and BCCOE. Twelve of 18 eligible HCs were randomly assigned to receive the intervention—seven beginning in April and May 2015, and five in November and December 2015—and six served as controls for the entire study period. We abstracted HC and hospital records of patients seen between April 2015 and April 2017 and used generalized linear models to compare the incidence of biopsies, breast cancer diagnoses, and early-stage diagnoses in the geographic sectors served by intervention versus control HCs. Results Overall, 276,282 person-years were in intervention sectors and 302,856 in control sectors. Of patients, 1,500 patients sought care at intervention HCs for breast concerns versus 600 at control HCs. Three hundred eighteen patients that were referred from intervention HCs were evaluated at BCCOE compared with 62 from control HCs. The biopsy rate was 36.6 per 100,000 person-years from intervention sectors versus 8.9 per 100,000 from control sectors ( P < .001). Breast cancer was diagnosed in 19 of 101 patients from intervention HCs who underwent biopsy (18.8%) compared with 10 (37.0%) of 27 patients from control HCs. Breast cancer incidence was 6.9 per 100,000 in intervention sectors versus 3.3 per 100,000 in control sectors ( P = .35). Nine patients from intervention HCs had early-stage disease (47.4%) versus two from control HCs (20.0%). The incidence rate of early-stage breast cancer was 3.7 per 100,000 in intervention sectors versus 0.7 per 100,000 in control sectors ( P = .08). Conclusion Over 2 years, our early detection program was associated with more patients referred for hospital-level evaluation and requiring biopsies. Most patients referred by intervention HCs had benign conditions; however, there was a trend toward a higher incidence of early-stage breast cancer among patients from intervention regions. AUTHORS' DISCLOSURES OF POTENTIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST The following represents disclosure information provided by authors of this manuscript. All relationships are considered compensated. Relationships are self-held unless noted. I = Immediate Family Member, Inst = My Institution. Relationships may not relate to the subject matter of this manuscript. For more information about ASCO's conflict of interest policy, please refer to www.asco.org/rwc or ascopubs.org/jco/site/ifc . Lydia E. Pace Stock or Other Ownership: Firefly Health