Three-year Survival of Women with Breast Cancer in Basrah, Iraq

OBJECTIVES: We sought to determine the overall observed three-year survival rate of women with breast cancer in Basrah, Iraq, and investigate the associated factors. METHODS: Data was collected retrospectively from the Oncology Center registry in Basrah, all newly diagnosed women with breast cancer between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2014 were included and followed-up until 31 December 2017. We used the Kaplan-Meier method to estimate the overall survival rates. Cox regression analysis was used to investigate the association between survival and prognostic factors. RESULTS: A total of 605 women who were diagnosed with breast cancer during 2013– 2014 were included in the study, 44.1% had advanced tumor stages (stage III and IV). The overall observed three-year survival rate was 83.3%. Cox regression analysis showed that late stage (stage IV vs. stage I hazard ratio (HR) = 4.65; 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.28–7.81) and grade (poorly vs. well differentiated HR = 4.10; 95% CI: 3.01–6.82) were significantly associated with poor survival. CONCLUSIONS: The overall observed survival rate of women with breast cancer in Basrah was comparable to that reported for developing countries, but it is poorer than that of developed countries. Advanced stage and poorly differentiated tumors were significant predictors of poor survival.