article · PLoS ONE
A study of 302 female breast cancer patients diagnosed between 2013 and 2018 in southern Ethiopia examined survival rates and factors driving mortality. Most patients, around 83.4 percent, presented with advanced-stage cancer. The overall median survival time was 50.81 months, dropping to 30.57 months under a worst-case sensitivity analysis. Survival probabilities stood at 73.2 percent at two years and 63.0 percent at three years, falling below 60 percent thereafter despite care at a tertiary facility. Increased risk of death was linked to living in rural areas, travel times of seven hours or more to a health facility, delays in seeking care beyond six months from symptom onset, advanced cancer stage at initial presentation, and not receiving chemotherapy. These findings establish crucial baseline data to guide efforts to improve early detection, timely diagnosis, and cancer treatment capacity.
Breast cancer is a leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide, yet survival patterns and risk factors in Sub-Saharan Africa remain poorly documented. Demonstrating that long travel times, delayed presentation, and missing chemotherapy drastically reduce survival shows where healthcare systems must intervene. This evidence helps regional health authorities target resources toward early screening, accessible diagnostics, and decentralised oncology care to prevent premature deaths.
The abstract does not indicate an application pathway.
AI-generated from the published abstract. Always read the original work before citing.
BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death in over 100 countries. In March 2021, the World Health Organization called on the global community to decrease mortality by 2.5% per year. Despite the high burden of the disease, the survival status and the predictors for mortality are not yet fully determined in many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Ethiopia. Here, we report the survival status and predictors of mortality among breast cancer patients in South Ethiopia as crucial baseline data to be used for the design and monitoring of interventions to improve early detection, diagnosis, and treatment capacity. METHODS: A hospital-based retrospective cohort study was conducted among 302 female breast cancer patients diagnosed from 2013 to 2018 by reviewing their medical records and telephone interviews. The median survival time was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis method. A log-rank test was used to compare the observed differences in survival time among different groups. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to identify predictors of mortality. Results are presented using the crude and adjusted as hazard ratios along with their corresponding 95% confidence intervals. Sensitivity analysis was performed with the assumption that loss to follow-up patients might die 3 months after the last hospital visit. RESULTS: The study participants were followed for a total of 4,685.62 person-months. The median survival time was 50.81 months, which declined to 30.57 months in the worst-case analysis. About 83.4% of patients had advanced-stage disease at presentation. The overall survival probability of patients at two and three years was 73.2% and 63.0% respectively. Independent predictors of mortality were: patients residing in rural areas (adjusted hazard ratio = 2.71, 95% CI: 1.44, 5.09), travel time to a health facility ≥7 hours (adjusted hazard ratio = 3.42, 95% CI: 1.05, 11.10), those who presented within 7-23 months after the onset of symptoms (adjusted hazard ratio = 2.63, 95% CI: 1.22, 5.64), those who presented more than 23 months after the onset of symptoms (adjusted hazard ratio = 2.37, 95% CI: 1.00, 5.59), advanced stage at presentation (adjusted hazard ratio = 3.01, 95% CI: 1.05, 8.59), and patients who never received chemotherapy (adjusted hazard ratio = 6.69, 95% CI: 2.20, 20.30). CONCLUSION: Beyond three years after diagnosis, patients from southern Ethiopia had a survival rate of less than 60% despite treatment at a tertiary health facility. It is imperative to improve the early detection, diagnosis, and treatment capacities for breast cancer patients to prevent premature death in these women.
This page summarises published work. The authoritative version sits with the publisher.
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0282746
Is something wrong with this record? Report it or request removal.
Discussion
Have you built on this work, tried to replicate it, or seen it applied in practice? Share what you know. Verified researchers and MARATTO™ domain experts can open a discussion, and any member can reply. Contributions are reviewed before they appear.
No discussion yet. Open the first thread.
New to MARATTO™? Create a free account.
