Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of Ukrainian breast cancer patients in a regional cancer center in Poland after the start of the war in Ukraine.

Background: This study performs an analysis of clinical and epidemiological characteristics of Ukrainian patients with breast cancer (BC) who presented to a regional cancer center in western Poland in 2022.

Materials and methods: Date and country of BC diagnosis, age at diagnosis, age at first visit to the Greater Poland Cancer Centre (GPCC), and clinical staging were collected from hospital records. Multidisciplinary team (MDT) data for all BC cases reviewed at the GPCC in 2022 served as a comparison for the study population.

Results: All 106 patients presented to the GPCC after the outbreak of the full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022. The year of BC diagnosis ranged from 1993 to 2022. Median age at diagnosis was 47. The majority of cases were diagnosed (76%) and treated (76%) in Ukraine. Treatment at the GPCC was performed for 65% of cases - mostly continued oncological care for patients initially treated in Ukraine. Moreover, the majority of cases treated in Ukraine (55%) have received continued treatment at the GPCC. Cases with stage II BC were most numerous (36%), followed by stage IV BC (26%) and stage III BC (21%). Only 15% of cases were diagnosed with stage I BC and 1% with stage 0 BC.

Conclusions: The study population was characterized by relatively young age at diagnosis and advanced disease when compared with MDT data. Cases initially treated in Ukraine that required continued oncological care constituted the majority of all cases treated at the GPCC.