Demographic Profile and Prevalence of Comorbidities in Newly Diagnosed Women with Breast Cancer: Experience from a Tertiary Care Institute

Abstract

Background: Women with breast cancer comprise a very heterogeneous group. For Indian women, there is evidence to suggest that the age at presentation and demographic profile are different from their Western counterparts. We undertook this study to understand the demographic profile and prevalence of co-morbidities in newly diagnosed women with breast cancer presenting at our institute. Materials and methods:We conducted an audit of a prospectively maintained database at our breast clinic. All women presenting with a breast lump with available demographic data between 1 st June 2017 and 31 st October 2017 were included in the study. Results:Of the 376 women who visited our breast clinic between June to October 2017, 257 were diagnosed to have a breast malignancy. Among these, the mean age at presentation was 51 years. 61.8% were post-menopausal. The histology in majority of the women was ductal carcinoma (94.1%). The stage wise distribution was as follows-7.3% had Stage I disease, 43.1% had Stage II, 37.3% had Stage III and 8.1% presented with metastatic disease. The co-morbidities profile showed 26% of the women had hypertension and 20.6% had diabetes mellitus. None of the women had dyslipidaemia. 13.6% women had both hypertension and diabetes. On evaluation of the risk factors for breast cancer, 4 women gave a history of alcohol consumption, 5 women had a previous history of lumpectomy in the breast, and 4 women had a significant family history of cancer. 40% of the women were overweight and another 14% were obese at presentation. Conclusion:Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease and Indian women differ significantly from the Western population in the stage at presentation. The risk factors profile shows very few Indian women have an identifiable risk factor (5%). Also, of the women who present with breast cancer, one in four has associated hypertension and one in five has diabetes mellitus. Further studies are warranted to accurately document the risk factor profile and associated co-morbidities in Indian women.