Survival of patients with breast cancer in western Santa Catarina

Abstract

Breast cancer has been the most common cause of death by cancer in women in almost every country in the world. It is estimated that the cumulative median overall survival after five years is 65% in developed countries and 56% in countries like Brazil. Objective: To determine the overall survival of patients diagnosed with breast cancer in western Santa Catarina, considering clinical and pathological data. Methods: We conducted a cross sectional observational historic study, collecting data from the years 2002 and 2003. We identified all patients diagnosed with breast cancer treated at the referral center for cancer treatment in western Santa Catarina. After the analysis was performed of the clinical evolution of patients within eight years, with information obtained from medical records and through direct research with patients or family members. Survival curves were generated by the method proposed by Kaplan-Meier, and log-rank test (Mantel-Cox test X²) was used for comparison of survival when more than one variable was analyzed, considering a significance level of 95%. Results: We analyzed data from 174 patients with CM. The average of age was 53.6 years old (DP=13.2 years). Overall survival was 58% in 8 years; and patients with stage I and II showed 85.7 and 59.3% respectively. We could verify a difference in survival when considered prognostic factors such as age, size of primary breast cancer, lymph node and immunohistochemistry profile basal subtype. Conclusions: The survival of patients with CM in western SC is on the reported average for developing countries. It was possible to verify the