Survival Rate Among Patients with Breast Cancer Attending Bugando Medical Centre Oncology Clinic, Mwanza Tanzania.
- Mwanza, Tanzania | Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences [CUHAS-Bugando] | 2024.
- 25 Pages Includes References
Background:
Breast cancer (BCA) is currently the commonest cause of cancer death among women with the rate increasing even in the areas that previously had low rates, with a number of risks that are prone during early menarche, late menopause, and obesity in postmenopausal women, though a number of factors like bearing a child particularly having an early first birth and great number of children, also breast feeding has a protective effect.(1)
Worldwide, about 10.5% of all cancer incidences among women are breast cancer, making it the second most common type of non-skin cancer (after lung cancer) and the fifth most common cause of cancer death. As per statistical data in 2004, breast cancer caused 519,000 deaths worldwide (7% of cancer deaths; almost 1% of all deaths), and accounting for approximately 570,000 deaths in 2015.(2) Over 1.5 million women (25% of all women with cancer) are diagnosed with breast cancer every year throughout the world. Despite the fact most of the BCA are benign and curable by surgery and it much focuses on delaying tumor metastasis still recurrence is inevitable accounting for the poor survival rate.(3)
Breast cancer metastasis being the leading cause of breast cancer mortality, and since there are currently no prevention strategies for breast cancer (BCA) thus early detection of BCA is very critical in management, prediction of the BCA prognosis, and increasing the survival rates.(4)
Breast cancer survival rate (BCASR) depends on three main prognostic variables i.e., stage of the disease during the first diagnosis, size of the tumour, the menstrual status and the histopathology. In addition to that, it is also influenced by other complex underlying social factors like the population structures which include the population age structure and ethnicity; socio-economic status, and the availability of effective health care system which include the screening programmes which enhance the early detection of cases and also accessibility to high quality treatment.(5)
In most of the Sub-Saharan countries the situation is much worse compared to the situation developed countries, as in the developing countries the resources for early detection and the strategies for treatment are very limited hence contributing to the facts.(6)
In western Ethiopia a study bout breast cancer survival rate was done and it was revealed that most of the patients included in the study were diagnosed when the BCA was in advanced stage and most of them died within two years after being diagnosed.(7)
The burden of breast cancer in Tanzania is still heavy with BCA being the second cause of morbidity and mortality related to cancer, despite the government efforts of improving the health system still most of the women seek for the health service when the disease is in advanced stage thus making it difficult for the patient to survive thus degrading the survival rate.(8)
This study’s aim may serve a great deal in overcoming the burden caused by breast cancer by determining the survival rate and the factors that in one way or another affect the survival rate among the cancer patients visiting the oncology department at BMC.
Wurzburg Road 35, Premises, Post Code: 33102 | P. O. Box 1464 Mwanza, Tanzania | Phone: (255) 28-298-3384 | Fax: (255) 28-298-3386 | Email: vc@bugando.ac.tz | Website: www.bugando.ac.tz