Use of medications in women with triple-negative breast cancer between 2018 and 2019 in a Brazilian public hospital: a retrospective study.

Abstract

Objective: To describe the profile of medication use in women with triple-negative breast cancer treated between 2018 and 2019 in a Brazilian public hospital.

Methods: Descriptive and retrospective study, with data obtained from the Hospital Cancer Registry and physical and electronic medical records from a public hospital that is a reference in cancer treatment, in Rio de Janeiro. Descriptive analyses and analyses of time to treatment failure and overall survival were performed using the Kaplan Meier method.

Results: Of the 176 patients, 39.0% were under 50 years of age and 47.7% were diagnosed at an advanced stage. Use of 12 chemotherapy regimens was identified, with neoadjuvant or adjuvant intent, for treatment of triple-negative breast cancer. The most commonly used treatment regimen included doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide and taxanes (docetaxel or paclitaxel). After 180 days, 76.1% of patients remained on the initial treatment. Average time until treatment failure was 7.6 months for those who followed the main regimen. Median overall survival was 34 months, and 55.7% of patients died by the end of the follow-up period (48 months).

Conclusion: The results showed that treatment with doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide and taxanes (docetaxel or paclitaxel) was the most used in the patients analyzed, that average time to treatment failure using this regimen was less than one year and that more than half of the patients died within four years after diagnosis.