source: http://apocp.org/cancer_download/Volume8_No4/c%20525-529%20Leong%205.pdf
cache: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B86b-ALn-1MGa2dod0F5MFBPR28/edit?usp=sharing
Abstract
Introduction: Malaysian women have a 1 in 20 chance of developing breast cancer in their lifetime. Sabah, formerly known as North Borneo, is part of East Malaysia with a population of 3.39 million and more than 30 ethnic groups. We conducted a 2 year prospective epidemiological study to provide unreported data of breast cancer from this part of the world and to recognise which particular group of patients are more likely to present with advanced disease. Methods: All newly diagnosed breast cancers seen at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kota Kinabalu, from January 2005 to December 2006 were included in the study. Patient and tumour characteristics, including age, race, education, socioeconomic background, parity, practice of breast feeding, hormonal medication intake, menopausal status, family history, mode of presentation, histology, grade, stage of disease and hormonal receptors status were collected and analysed. Results: A total of 186 patients were seen.
The commonest age group was 40 to 49 years old (32.3%). Chinese was the commonest race (30.6%) followed by Kadazan-Dusun (24.2%). The commonest histology was invasive ductal carcinoma (88.4%). Stages at presentation were Stage 0- 4.8%, Stage I- 12.9%, Stage II- 30.1%, Stage III- 36.6% and Stage IV- 15.6%. The estrogen and progesterone receptor status was positive in 59.1% and 54.8% of cases, respectively. 73.7% of Chinese patients presented with early cancer compared to 36.4% of the other races. Patients who presented with advanced disease were also poor, non-educated and from rural areas. 20.4% of patients defaulted treatment; most of them opted for traditional alternatives. Conclusions: Sabahan women with breast cancer present late. Great efforts are needed to improve public awareness of breast cancer, especially among those who have higher risk of presenting with advanced disease.
Key Words: Breast cancer, late presentation, advanced stage, poor, rural, ethnic groups
Showing posts with label late presentation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label late presentation. Show all posts
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Breast Cancer in Malaysia : Are Our Women Getting The Right Message? 10 Year-Experience in A Single Institution In Malaysia
source: http://www.apocp.org/cancer_download/Volume8_No1/Aishah%20141-145.pdf
Abstract
The message that health care providers caring for patients with
breast cancer would like to put forth, is that, not only early detection is
crucial but early treatment too is important in ensuring survival. This paper
examines the pattern of presentation at a single institution over a 10-year
period from 1995 to 2005. In Malaysia, education outreach programmes are
ongoing, with contributions not only from the public sector, but also private
enterprise.
Articles on breast cancer in local newspapers and women magazines
and television are quite commonplace. However are our women getting the right
message? Now is an appropriate time to bring the stakeholders together to
formulate a way to reach all women in Malaysia, not excluding the fact that we
are from different races, different education levels and backgrounds requiring
differing ways of delivering health promotion messages.
To answer the question of why women present late, we prospectively
studied 25 women who presented with locally advanced disease. A quantitative,
quasi-qualitative study was embarked upon, as a prelude to a more detailed
study. Reasons for presenting late were recorded. We also looked at the pattern
of presentation of
breast lumps in women to our breast clinic in UMMC and in the
surgical clinic in Hospital Kota Bharu, in the smaller capital of the state of
Kelantan, in 2003. There is hope for the future, the government being a
socially responsible one is currently making efforts towards mammographic
screening in Malaysia. However understanding of the disease, acceptance of
medical treatment and providing resources is imperative to ensure that health
behaviour exhibited by our women is not self-destructive but self-preserving.
Women are an integral part of not only the nation’s workforce but the lifeline
of the family - hopefully in the next decade we will see great improvement in
the survival of Malaysian women with breast cancer.
Key Words: Breast cancer survival, early detection, late
presentation, health messages
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