Factors influencing delayed presentation of brest cancer at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Pakistan

Irum Sohail; Mehreen Baig; Humera Naz Altaf; Omar Shahzad Altaf

Abstract:

Background: Breast cancer is the leading cause of death despite the continuousdevelopment of newer and more effective modalities of treatment for breast cancer.In Asia, Pakistan has the highest rate of breast cancer. Breast cancer treatment showsbetter prognosis when it is diagnosed at an early stage, but mortality increasessignificantly with delayed diagnosis and advanced stage of disease. Delay in diagnosisand nonavailability of treatment are the major factors responsible for advanced stageand low survival.Aims: The objective of our study was to identify the factors responsible for delayedpresentation of patients with breast carcinoma.Methods and results: A cross‐sectional study using a questionnaire method wasconducted at the Foundation University Medical College from January 2015 toDecember 2016. A total of 89 patients gave consent and were interviewed using aprestructured questionnaire during the study. Age ranged from 25 to 64 years.Majority of patients were in stage T3N1M0 (31.5%). Second most common stagewas T4N0M0 (14.6%). Thirteen patients (12.4%) were in stage T3N0M0, and 10patients (11.2%) were in T3N2M0. Delay ranged from 3 months to more than 1 year;43.8% presented with delay of 3 to 6 months. The reasons for delay were lack ofknowledge about breast cancer (41%), lack of availability of health care services(32.6%), purdah and religious reasons (6.7%), and fear of being diagnosed with cancer(10.1%).Conclusion: The main reasons for delay identified in our study were lack ofknowledge and availability of appropriate health care facilities. In order to improveoutcome of breast cancer, more focus is needed on spreading awareness andimproving health care services in rural areas

research from:

• Foundation University Medical College

Year:

2018

Type of Publication:

Article

Journal:

Cancer Reports

Pages:

1-5

Month:

10

DOI:

10.1002/cnr2.1141