Pattern of Presentation of Patients With Breast Cancer in Iraq in 2018: A Cross-Sectional Study

PURPOSE: This study aims to describe the pattern of presentation of Iraqi female patients with breast cancer by assessing the grades and stages of their cancers at the time of presentation, to identify patients’ main complaints, and to discover whether there is any difference in presentation between patients in Iraq and those in other countries. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study that was performed in the National Center of Cancer in 2018. The target population was female patients with breast cancer who came to the Center for treatment and follow-up. A sample of 171 patients was drawn from this population. Self-evaluation forms were used in interviews with the patients to collect personal and sociodemographic data; clinical and histologic characteristics of the patients’ tumors were obtained from their medical records. Ethical approval was obtained. RESULTS: Forty-five percent of the patients were younger than age 50 years, and 25% were younger than age 45 years. In all, 42.9% of the patients were diagnosed with stage III and 25% with stage IV cancer, and metastasis was diagnosed in 24.1%. In our study population, 53.4% of the tumors were found in the right breast, and 3.9% of patients had bilateral breast tumors. The most common histopathologic type was invasive ductal carcinoma (81.4%) followed by invasive lobular carcinoma (6.9%) and tubular carcinoma (5.9%). The patients’ most common complaints were breast lump (71.3%) and pain (18.9%). No correlation was found between tumor stage and breast self-examination, family history, education, occupation, histopathology, or grade. CONCLUSION: Most of the patients are diagnosed at a late stage when treatment is less effective.