Long-Term Oncologic Outcome of Breast Cancer in Southern Iran: A Retrospective Cohort Study

INTRODUCTION: Breast cancer remains the most frequent and lethal cancer among women worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the characteristics, prognostic factors and outcome of breast cancer patient treated and followed-up in Shiraz, southern Iran from 2000 to 2005. METHODS: In this retrospective study, 1,024 patients with breast cancer who were treated in Namazi hospital of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences between 2000 and 2005 were included. Survival analysis was performed to determine potential factors influencing disease free-and overall survival in these patients. RESULTS: Median age of the patients at diagnosis was 47 (range 19-83) years. Median follow-up for surviving patients was 68 months. The majority of patients presented at stage II (42%) and stage III (41%). Additionally, most (61%) patients had positive axillary node. The 5-, 10- and 15-year overall survival rates were 83.8%, 61.5% and 56.6% respectively. On multivariate analysis for overall survival, histologic type, Tumor stage, node stage, disease stage, M stage, hormone receptor status, adjuvant radiotherapy, and chemotherapy regimen remained independent prognostic factor for overall survival. CONCLUSION: in this study, the poor long-term oncologic outcome of the patients with breast cancer may be due to the higher rate of locally advanced disease; as well as the lack of modern systemic therapies in the study period.