Locally Advanced Breast Cancer in Jamaica: Prevalence, Disease Characteristics and Response to Preoperative Therapy

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in Jamaican women. Locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) isassociated with aggressive biology and poor prognosis, and has a predilection for African-American women. Inthis retrospective review, we assessed the prevalence of LABC as a breast cancer presentation in a population ofmainly Afro-centric ethnicity, and determined disease characteristics and response to pre-operative chemotherapy.LABC was prevalent (20%), and had a low pathological response rate to pre-operative chemotherapy, with ahigh risk of disease recurrence. Increased utilization of breast cancer screening may help detect cancer at lessadvanced stages, and optimizing pre-operative chemotherapy is recommended to improve response rates andultimately survival.