Clinicopathologic features and staging at diagnosis of patients with breast cancer in a health center of Minas Gerais

Abstract

Objective: To describe the clinicopathological characteristics and the stage at diagnosis of patients with breast cancer treated at a public secondary care center in Minas Gerais. Method: A descriptive, retrospective study was realized, based on analysis of medical records of patients assisted at the Breast Unit of the Centro de Referência da Saúde “Risoleta Tolentino Neves” (Centro Viva Vida), in Lavras (MG), Brazil. All diagnosed cases of breast cancer from January 2008 to June 2013 were selected. Results: There were a total of 125 cases and 112 were eligible for the study. The mean age of the patients was 56 years (25 –89 years). Seventy-four patients (66%) were postmenopausal at diagnosis. The diagnosis was made by clinical lesion in 67% of cases and the lump was the most frequent type of injury (85.6%). In situ carcinoma was 8.9% and invasive carcinoma was 91.1% of total. The mean tumor size was 2.52 cm (0.7–8.0 cm). The most prevalent staging was stage II (37.5%), followed by stage I (30.35%). Conclusions: Breast cancer remains an important public health problem in Brazil. The presented casuistry showed data that reinforce the presence of different realities with regard to breast cancer in Brazilian territory, revealing better figures than the national average about the disease stage at diagnosis, but with evident necessity for improvements regarding early diagnosis. Epidemiological knowledge can be an extremely useful tool to achieve up these improvements and reduce the mortality in different regions of the country.