Sobrevida de mulheres portadoras de câncer de mama e fatores associados

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the factors associated with staging, survival and death in women with breast cancer. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study of patients attending a reference hospital in Campina Grande, Paraíba, diagnosed from 1st January 1999 to December 31, 2002. Patients were evaluated for five years using data from medical records and SIM, the Mortality Information System. We used the socio-demographic, clinical, tumor and the ones related to the treatment. The chi-square and logistic regression to analyze the factors associated with staging and death. To study the survival analysis used the Kaplan Meier and Cox model. RESULTS: 36.7% out of 438 patients presented advanced stage (III and IV), 63.3% were in the initial stage (O, I and II) and 1,8% were missing the information. The average age was 56.76 years (SD = 13.70). Patients who are illiterate or semi-literate, and presented histologic grade III had a higher risk for an advanced stage. The survival rate at 5 years was 79.1%. The staging was a prognostic factor, with survival rates of 65.7% in stage III and 52.6% in IV. Other associated factors were age, lack of partners and low educational level. CONCLUSIONS: This study underscores the importance of staging as a prognostic factor for breast cancer. As the need for public policies providing increasing levels of schooling, and greater accessibility to diagnosis and treatment.