Epidemiological and clinical factors of breast cancer in a population of mostly Afro-descendant women.

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most frequent neoplasm and has the highest mortality rate among women. In the Afro-descendant population, these tumors may appear earlier and assume a more aggressive behavior. This study aimed to assess the epidemiological and clinical behavior of breast cancer in a predominantly Afro-descendant population, identify risk and prognostic factors, and compare them with already available data. Clinical and sociodemographic data were obtained from medical records and interviews with the patients involved. The variables ethnicity, age, number of children, monthly income, and education were used to describe the epidemiological profile and the results of clinical evaluation and pathological anatomy study. The immunohistochemical analysis was used to correlate the clinical characteristics of the tumors and prognosis. Afro-descendant women represented 77% of the population and the mean age at diagnosis was 54.4 years. Approximately 75% had up to 2 children, 20.5% had low income, and 37.3% had a low level of education. Infiltrating ductal carcinoma was diagnosed in 91% of patients, 70.2% had a moderate degree of differentiation, luminal subtype A was the most prevalent (39%), and a higher than global average percentage had a triple negative profile (22.9%). Early stages were identified in 53.4% of patients and only 4.8% were diagnosed with metastatic disease. The recurrence rate was 11.6%, and the mortality rate was 6.8%. The present study showed that unfavorable sociodemographic and clinical aspects, such as the high prevalence of triple-negative tumors, were not associated with a worse prognosis.