Pattern of survival of breast cancer patients in a tertiary hospital in South West Nigeria

Recurrence and associated factors of breast cancer among women in sub saharan africa, systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Recurrence of breast cancer is a critical indicator of disease progression and survival rates. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the prevalence of recurrence and associated factors of breast cancer in Sub Saharan Africa.

METHODS

We conducted a thorough search of the following international databases between January 1 and February 7, 2024: PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and the Cochrane Library. A data extraction format was used by two authors to independently extract all required data. STATA Version 14 was used to evaluate the quantitative data and the Cochrane Q test statistics and I2 test were used to evaluate the heterogeneity among the included studies using a random effects meta-analysis model.

RESULTS

The overall prevalence of breast cancer recurrence is 27.44 % (95%CI: 26.41, 28.46). The highest prevalence was found in Uganda (89.927 % (87.0, 92.851)), followed by Tanzania (82.174 % (77.228, 87.120)). Involved deep surgical margin (OR: 3.62, 95 % CI: 2.11, 5.12), positive lymph node status (OR: 6.85, 95 % CI: 1.42, 12.3)), and histological grade III (OR: 7.43, 95 % CI: 3.56, 11.3)) were all significantly associated factors.

CONCLUSION

The pooled prevalence of breast cancer recurrence in this review was significantly high. Histological grade III, positive lymph node statuses, clinical staging III, and involved deep surgical margin were associated factors. Therefore, frequent monitoring, regular screenings, imaging tests, and consultations with oncologists, take extra care to ensure clear and deep surgical margins using advanced imaging techniques are highly recommended.

Assessing nutrition-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards breast cancer prevention among female students at the Federal University of Oye-Ekiti, Nigeria

BACKGROUND

Breast cancer remains a complex disease and leading cause of cancer-related death in Nigerian women. Recently, the role of nutrition has been highlighted in the etiology of breast cancer.

METHODS

The aim of this research was to evaluate the nutrition-related knowledge, attitude, and practices of female university students. We also investigated the correlation between their demographic characteristics and their knowledge and attitudes of the survey participants. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among female students at the Federal University of Oye (FUOYE), Nigeria. Participants completed self-administered questionnaires designed to assess their knowledge, attitude, and practices concerning cancer prevention. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 20, and significance was set at p < 0.05.

RESULTS

Out of the 402 students who received the questionnaire, 300 completed it. The average age of the participants was 21.26 years with a standard deviation of 2.68. There was generally limited knowledge regarding breast cancer risk factors, with 45% of participants citing family history as the most recognized risk factor. Overall, knowledge level was influenced by the participants' permanent place of residence and course of study. Attitudes towards the impact of maternal and paternal nutrition on breast cancer prevention were notably low. Additionally, less than half of the participants demonstrated good dietary practices.

CONCLUSION

This study revealed low levels of nutrition-related knowledge concerning cancer prevention, accompanied by poor dietary habits among the participants. These results suggest a possible link between inadequate knowledge about breast cancer prevention and the observed poor dietary practices among the participants. The frequent consumption of unhealthy foods among the participants may be a pointer to higher risk of breast cancer in the future, emphasizing a need for health education targeted at this group.

Access to Radiation Therapy and Related Clinical Outcomes in Patients With Cervical and Breast Cancer Across Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review

PURPOSE

To better understand the barriers to accessing standard-of-care radiation therapy (RT) for breast and cervical cancer in sub-Saharan Africa and their impact on outcomes.

METHODS

A comprehensive literature search was completed with a medical librarian. Articles were screened by title, abstract, and full text. Included publications were analyzed for data describing barriers to RT access, available technology, and disease-related outcomes, and further grouped into subcategories and graded according to predefined criteria.

RESULTS

A total of 96 articles were included: 37 discussed breast cancer, 51 discussed cervical cancer, and eight discussed both. Financial access was affected by health care system payment models and combined burdens of treatment-related costs and lost wages. Staffing and technology shortages limit the ability to expand service locations and/or increase capacity within existing centers. Patient factors including use of traditional healers, fear of stigma, and low health literacy decrease the likelihood of early presentation and completion of therapies. Survival outcomes are worse than most high- and middle-income countries and are affected by many factors. Side effects are similar to other regions, but these findings are limited by poor documentation capabilities. Access to palliative RT is more expeditious than definitive management. RT was noted to lead to feelings of burden, lower self-esteem, and worsened quality of life.

CONCLUSION

Sub-Saharan Africa represents a diverse region with barriers to RT that differ on the basis of funding, available technology and staff, and community populations. Although long-term solutions must focus on building capacity by increasing the number of treatment machines and providers, short-term improvements should be implemented, such as interim housing for traveling patients, increased community education to reduce late-stage diagnoses, and use of virtual visits to avoid travel.

Adherence to Chemotherapy among Women with Breast Cancer Treated at Tikur Anbessa Specialized and Teaching Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND

Adherence is important for women with breast cancer because it is a primary determinant for effectiveness of treatment and optimum clinical benefit. Though Breast cancer is the leading cancer in Ethiopia,adherance to chemotherapy is not investigated in Ethiopian women.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to assess adherence to chemotherapy among women with breast cancer treated at Tikur Anbessa specialized and Teaching Hospital.

METHODS

Cross-sectional study was conducted among 164 breast cancer patients with chemotherapy. After eligible participants were identified, data were collected using face-to-face interviews, card reviews and telephone interviews. Adherence was calculated as the number of doses taken divided by number of recommended or expected doses. Pearson chi-square test was used to evaluate predictors of adherence.

RESULTS

Among a total of 164 breast cancer patients, majority, 119, (72.6%) of them were urban residents. The mean age of study participants was 41.99 + 10.9 years. The majority 149, (90.9%) of patients were married. More than half 94, (57.3%) of the women were literate. In this study, 137 out of 164 (83.5%) women were adherent to their chemotherapy. Of the 27 non adherent participants. he reason for non-adherence to chemotherapy was unknown for 7, (25.9%) of women. Among different identified reasons for non-adherent, sever illness prevents patients to receive chemotherapy. Based on Pearson chi square test, distance from referral center and treatment regimen were significantly associated with non-adherence rate.

CONCLUSION

The present  study the results showed that the majority 137, (83.5%) of patients were in good adherence to their chemotherapy. The most identified factor of non-adherence was inability to come for their therapy as a result of severity of illness. Therefore, expansion of cancer diagnosis and treatment centers should be encouraged in order to maximize patient's access and adherence to chemotherapy.

Breast Cancer Survival Analysis Model

(1) Background: Breast cancer (BC)—a leading cause of mortality in women globally—accounts for more than two million cases annually. BC was the most common cancer in Taiwan in 2015 and ranks among the top 10 malignancies in Taiwan. (2) Methods: We established a collection of BC survival and metastasis analyses using the Kaplan–Meier, logarithmic test, and Cox proportional hazard models to investigate the association among BC stages, different treatment modalities, and survival rate of patients with BC at various follow-up intervals. We also evaluated whether clinical prognostic factors had univariate and multivariate effects on the survival of patients with BC. Finally, we performed a metastasis analysis using the survival transition rate values of BC stages to develop a Markov chain and semi-Markov simulation model for BC and BC metastasis analysis, respectively. (3) Results: The Kaplan–Meier survival analysis revealed that the risk of BC treated with surgery was lower than that of those who did not receive surgery and the recommended treatment methods should be ranked by survival as follows: surgery, hormone therapy, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy (in descending order of risk). This is attributed to the predicted survival rate which ranges from 99.6% to 91.2%. Moreover, Cox’s treatment method considered the patient’s attributes and revealed a significant difference (p = 0.001). The Markov chain analyses determined the chance of metastasis at each stage, indicating that the lower the stage of BC, the greater the survival rate. (4) Conclusions: Patients’ treatment is influenced by different BC stages, and earlier detection presents better chances of survival and a greater probability of treatment success.

Breast microscopic cancer segmentation and classification using unique 4-qubit-quantum model

The visual inspection of histopathological samples is the benchmark for detecting breast cancer, but a strenuous and complicated process takes a long time of the pathologist practice. Deep learning models have shown excellent outcomes in clinical diagnosis and image processing and advances in various fields, including drug development, frequency simulation, and optimization techniques. However, the resemblance of histopathologic images of breast cancer and the inclusion of stable and infected tissues in different areas make detecting and classifying tumors on entire slide images more difficult. In breast cancer, a correct diagnosis is needed for complete care in a limited amount of time. An effective detection can relieve the pathologist's workload and mitigate diagnostic subjectivity. Therefore, this research work investigates improved the pre-trained xception and deeplabv3+ design semantic model. The model has been trained on input images with ground masks on the tuned parameters that significantly improve the segmentation of ultrasound breast images into respective classes, that is, benign/malignant. The segmentation model delivered an accuracy of greater than 99% to prove the model's effectiveness. The segmented images and histopathological breast images are transferred to the 4-qubit-quantum circuit with six-layered architecture to detect breast malignancy. The proposed framework achieved remarkable performance as contrasted to currently published methodologies. HIGHLIGHTS: This research proposed hybrid semantic model using pre-trained xception and deeplabv3 for breast microscopic cancer classification in to benign and malignant classes at accuracy of 95% accuracy, 99% accuracy for detection of breast malignancy.