Clinicopathologic Features and Survival Analysis of Non-metastatic Breast Cancer Patients in Guatemala

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer (BC) is a leading cause of cancer related death worldwide. Unfortunately, data concerning clinicopathologic features of this malignancy in non-developed countries is scarce. This study aims to characterize a cohort of Guatemalan female patients with non-metastatic BC and to determine risk factors for overall survival (OS).Methods: We retrieved data on consecutive patients from the Instituto Guatemalteco de Seguridad Social that were treated from 2008 to 2014. Clinical features and long-term outcomes were retrieved from medical records. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were conducted to identify variables associated with OS. Results: 954 BC patients were identified during the time frame. A total of 436 women (46%) were younger than 50 years old. BC molecular subtypes categorized 537 patients (56.3%) with luminal A disease, 186 (19.5%) patients with triple negative tumors, 153 cases (16.1%) with HER-2 enriched tumors, and 78 patients (8.2%) with luminal B tumors. Clinical stage at presentation was stage I: 4.7% (n=45); stage II: 48.1% (n=459), and stage III: 47.2% (n=450). The overall 5-year survival rate was 75.2% (95% Confidence Interval: 72.0–78.3). In the multivariate analysis clinical stage, triple negative tumors and HER2 enriched tumors were independently associated with poor survival.Conclusion: The majority of patients with non-metastatic BC are diagnosed with advanced disease and many of them are younger than 50 years old. OS in this cohort of Guatemalan patients is lower than that reported in developed countries.