Impact of Age, Tumor Size, Lymph Node Metastasis, Stage, Receptor Status and Menopausal Status on Overall Survival of Breast Cancer Patients in Pakistan

Background: Survival of breast cancer patients depends on a number of factors which are not only prognosticbut are also predictive. A number of studies have been carried out worldwide to find out prognostic and predictivesignificance of different clinicopathological and molecular variables in breast cancer. This study was carried outat Nuclear Medicine, Oncology and Radiotherapy Institute (NORI), Islamabad, to find out the impact of differentfactors on overall survival of breast cancer patients coming from Northern Pakistan. Materials and
Methods:This observational retrospective study was carried out in the Oncology Department of NORI Hospital. A totalof 2,666 patients were included. Data were entered into SPSS 20. Multinomial logistic regression analysis wasperformed to determine associations of different variables with overall survival. P values <0.05 were consideredsignificant.
Results: The mean age of the patients was 47.6 years, 49.5% being postmenopausal. Some 1,708 wereER positive and 1,615 were PR positive, while Her 2 neu oncogene positivity was found in 683. A total of 1,237presented with skin involvement and 426 had chest wall involvement. Some 1,663 had > 5cm tumors. Lymph nodeinvolvement was detected in 2,131. Overall survival was less than 5 years in 669 patients, only 324 surviving formore than 10 years, and in the remainder overall survival was in the range of 5-10 years.
Conclusions: Tumorsize, lymph node metastases, receptor status, her 2 neu positivity, skin involvement, and chest wall involvementhave significant effects whereas age and menopausal status have no significant effect on overall survival of breastcancer patients in Pakistan.