Five Year Survival of Women with Breast Cancer in Ardabil, North-West of Iran

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, and the major cause of cancer deaths in women20- 59 years old. The present retrospective study was undertaken to examine survival in all newly diagnosedbreast cancer in Iran. One hundred and sixty-one breast cancer registered patients in 2003 were includedin the study and followed up for 5-years from cancer diagnosis. Data were analyzed using life tables andKaplan Meier for estimating relative survival rates and Cox’s proportional hazard model to investigate theinteraction between variables. The mean age of the patients at diagnosis was 45.5 (SD=12.3), ranging from19 to 86 years. Of all patients 90 (56%) were alive and 71( 44%) were dead after five years. Using life tableanalysis, the overall relative 5-year survival rate was found to be 51% (SE=0.05). Using Cox regressionmodel analysis variables such as age, surgery, location and drug therapy significantly influenced survival.According to the results, the overall 5-year survival rate in Ardebil province was lower than other placesof Iran and most countries in the world and needs to be improved. Also, results showed that breast cancerscreening programs, awareness regarding early detection of breast cancer and education of health careproviders are necessary.