Aspectos clínicos e epidemiológicos do câncer de mama em estado do nordeste brasileiro

Abstract

Breast cancer is the malignant neoplasm that manifests itself in the breast tissue and represents the most prevalent malignant neoplasm today among women, being rare in men, but with high mortality rates in affected populations. With a multifactorial etiology, it affects all social classes in different stages. The present study aims to characterize the clinical and epidemiological profile of patients with breast cancer in a state in northeastern Brazil. To fulfill this objective, a database of patients treated from 2012 to 2016 in a referral hospital in Rio Grande do Norte was analyzed. The prevalence of breast cancer in the population studied was high, the age range of the patients affected was predominantly of patients over 40 years old, the incidence of some rare cancers was observed and most of the patients were admitted to the service in advanced stages of the disease. Therefore, the need to reach women over the age of 40 becomes important in breast cancer screening and prevention policies, as well as education of this population to recognize the health-disease binomial.