Survival Rate of Breast Cancer Based on Geographical Variation in Iran, a Na- tional Study

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among womenworldwide. Based on the latest Iranian national cancer departmentreport, the total number of women registered with breast cancer was6976 cases during 2007. Five year survival is one of the indicators used forevaluation of the quality for care to different types of malignanciesincluding breast cancer.Objectives: The aim of this study was to estimate survival rate of breastcancer in 6147 Iranian patients at a national level in different geographicregions.Materials and Methods: 6147 cases of breast cancer, which hadtelephone number and were diagnosed between 2001-2006, were calledto obtain information about their life status. Survival estimates werecalculated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and the survival probabilitywas calculated for the overall cohort and in different categories of gender,age and pathologic type of tumor. Hazard ratios (HR) according todemographic and risk variables were calculated by Cox s proportionalhazard model.Results: The overall 5-year survival rate was 71.0%. The mean survivaltime was different between men and women, which was statisticallysignificant. The number of men involved with breast cancer was 172 (2.8%)of all cases. The 5-year survival rate for patients in age group 41-50 yearswas significantly higher than other age groups (P = 0.001). The likelihoodof death was higher in patients with 61 years old or more years rather thanthose below forty years old (HR = 1.31; 95% CI: 1.12-1.55).Conclusions: The findings of this study might help Iranian healthmanagers: 1) to be more conscious about geographical and regionaldeterminants which will affect overall survival rate. 2) To carry preventiveactivities such as public education particularly in Iranian men. 3) To thinkabout screening and early detection of breast cancer.