Characteristics and presentation of patients with breast cancer in Rwanda

Breast cancer is prevalent globally, yet outcomes are worse in low-income countries than in high-income countries. Anecdotally, women with advanced breast cancer in Rwanda are increasingly seeking care, yet little is known about their presentation and demographics.

We retrospectively identified patients with breast tumors-from operating theater logs, admission registries, and pathology reports-who were treated at 3 referral hospitals between January 2007 and May 2011. Sociodemographic and clinical data were extracted from inpatient charts.

One hundred forty-five patients received care during this period. The average age was 48.5 years. Eighty-five percent presented with more than 12 weeks' delay after an abnormality was noted. Forty-eight percent underwent mastectomy, 20% lumpectomy, and 3% mastectomy and chemotherapy. Data on stage were limited and histopathologic data were unavailable.

This study is the first to characterize Rwandan patients with breast cancer. Our results highlight the needs for registries to capture stage, pathologic features, and survival, as well as the need for research on causes of delayed presentation in Rwanda.