Frequency locally advanced and metastatic breast cancer at the time of presentation in a private hospital in Peshawar.

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women and Pakistan has the highest rate of breast cancers in Asia. Breast cancer patients present very late with their symptoms in Pakistan as compared to the developed world. As a result, our survival outcomes are very poor. To estimate the frequency of breast cancer patients presenting with locally advanced and metastatic disease at presentation at our dedicated one-stop breast care unit (BCU) at Rehman Medical Institute Peshawar. Study Design: Observational study. Setting: Rehman Medical Institute Peshawar. Period: 1^st January 2018 to 31^st December 2018. Material and Methods: Data was prospectively collected of all breast cancer patients presenting to BCU and recorded both electronically and in hard copy, and analysed. Results: A total of 83 patients were identified. 30% of the patients had metastatic disease at presentation while 34% had locally advanced disease. Only 36% had early breast cancer. Conclusion: This study supported the previously reported trend of very late presentation of patients with breast cancer in Pakistan.