Patterns of breast cancer differ greatly between Asian and Western countries and this study aimed to evaluate the age at the time of diagnosis of breast cancer and it’s probably changes in distribution among patients during 30 years
This cross-sectional study was conducted in Mashhad, Iran from 1981 until 2011. The data of 6274 breast cancer patients were obtained from case records. The duration of study was categorized into three periods: 1981-1990, 1991-2000 and 2001-2011. SPSS software was used for analyses.
Mean age at the time of diagnosis was 49.07 ± 12.07 years (male: 56.48 ± 14.14, female: 48.8 ±12.01, p < 0.001). Decades Frequency Mean age SD Youngest Oldest 467 47.97 12.043 18 88 1771 49.03 12.338 20 99 3949 49.22 11.954 20 98
The most frequent histologic type of breast cancer was ductal carcinoma 65.6% others in order were: NOS 19.6%, lobular 3.7%, medullary 2.8%, adenocarcinoma 2.8%, tubular and papillary 0.2%, and 5.1% of other types. Relative frequency of histologic types had significant differences among 3 intervals (p < 0.001), the frequency of adenocarcinoma was decreasing but ductal carcinoma was increasing during 3 decades. Mean age of ductal carcinoma, lobular, medullary and adenocarcinoma was 48.9±11.8, 50.6±12.4, 46.4±11.4, 50.2±11.9, respectively. Mean age had significant differences among these main histologic types (p = 0.002).98% of patients were urban and 2% were rural. The frequency of people living in urban areas increased significantly (p < 00.1) during these 30 years compared with rural areas.
Breast cancer occurs in Iranian women at least one decade younger than in women in developed countries. We found no change in mean age of diagnosis of breast cancer during these 30 years from 1981 to 2011.
Mashhad University of Medical Sciences
Mashhad University of Medical Sciences
All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.