Risk factors and presentations amongst pre and post menopausal breast cancer patients: a comparative analysis in a tertiary care centre

Background: While the majority of breast cancer patients in western countries are postmenopausal and in their sixth and seventh decades of life, the picture is quite different in India where more than 80% of Indian patients are aged less than 60 years. Thus the study aimed to emphasize on the distribution of different risk factors especially in rural population, and to find if there is any correlation of these risk factors with postmenopausal age group.
Materials and Methods: This is a prospective longitudinal study involving a total of 118 female patients who were histologically or cytologically confirmed with breast cancer. Patients were divided into two groups based on their menopausal status viz premenopausal and postmenopausal. Data on clinical presentation, evident findings of cancer, diagnostic tests and diagnosis and tumor characteristics were collected from medical records available at the central registry of the hospital. Information about patient’s personal habits, risk factors, well‑being was obtained by interviewing either the patient or the patient’s caretakers.
Results: Overall 50.85% patients (n=60) presented with a history of 2-6 months duration, 25.42% (n=30) presented with history for more than 12 months duration and 23.73% (n=28) presented with history of 7-12 months duration of symptoms. About 55.08% (n=65) patients had a lump in the right breast and 44.91% (n=53) patients had a lump in the left breast. Risk factors were duly adjudged.
Conclusion: Risk factors and presentations vary among pre and post menopausal breast cancer patients. Mass awareness programs encouraging self-detection of the disease can be of prime importance in this scenario.