Clinical and Histological Profile of Breast Cancer at University Clinics of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract

Context: Breast cancer represents a significant public health problem concern the world, given its frequency (20% to 25% of female cancers) and diagnosis clinical stage with a particular frequency of locally advanced cancers and inflammatory forms. Objectives: To describe the socio-demographic, clinical and histological characteristics of breast cancer at the University Clinics of Kinshasa. Methods: A descriptive and retrospective study was completed at University Clinics of Kinshasa from 1 January 2003 to 30 July 2018, including 300 cases of breast cancer diagnosed and treated. Results: The mean age of women at diagnosis was 47.5 ± 10.8 years. Most of the patients were married, multipara with an average parity of 3.7 ± 2.5 and non-menopausal. Breast mass was the main reason for medical visit (47.5%) and the majority of patients consulted 12 months after the onset of the disease (36.3%) at stage 3 (56%) and node extension was observed in 61.3%. The average size of the breast mass was 8.02 ± 3.7 cm. The infiltrating ductal carcinoma was the most common histological type in 82.5% of cases; the majority of tumors were histo-pronostic II in 47.5% of cases. 83% of the tumors were hormonal-dependent. Only 35.9% of the tumors over-expressed the HER 2/Neu receptor. Conclusion: Most patients consulted more than 12 months after the onset of the disease and the diagnosis was made at advanced stages. The tumor was large at diagnosis. The left breast was the most affected. The majority of tumors are of high histopronostic grade and are hormonal-dependent.