Context: The current decade has witnessed a drastic change in cancer epidemiology with breast cancer dethroning cervical cancer as the most common cancer among women in India.
Aims: The present study has been carried out to gauge & evaluate the change in spectrum in socio-demographic profile and management of breast cancer over a decade.
Methods and Material: The data of breast cancer patients for last ten years were recorded retrospectively at SMS Medical College, Jaipur; with respect to baseline patient, tumor, and treatment characteristics; and change in spectrum among them was analyzed.
Results: Over a period of ten years, significant decline was observed in post menopausal status (versus pre menopausal, P = 0.011), hormone receptor positivity (versus negativity, P = 0.034), advanced stage at presentation (versus early stage, P = 0.020); whereas significant increase was observed in breast conservative surgery (versus mastectomy, P < 0.001), neoadjuvant chemotherapy (versus no NACT, P < 0.001), taxane based chemotherapy (versus CMF/CAF/CEF regimens, P < 0.001), and radiotherapy with advanced technology (linear accelerator versus cobalt teletherapy, P = 0.007). Although there was increasing trend of younger age at presentation, use of newer imaging modalities like mammography & bone scan, more Her2/neu positivity, and use of targeted therapy; the trend was not statistically significant.
Conclusions: Most of the patients now present with young age before attaining menopause with hormone receptor negativity and Her2/neu positivity in early stage. There has been increased use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by breast conservative surgery. Use of methotrexate is now obsolete and taxanes have become core chemotherapy. Patients now prefer advanced radiation technology over conventional one, and compliance to all form of treatment has improved.
Impact Factor
2022: 6.012
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