Epidemiological and anatomopathological aspects of breast cancer among Mauritanian women.

Abstract

Objectives : The aim of this work was to study Epidemiological and anatomopathological aspects of breast cancer in Mauritania. Material and methods : This is a retrospective study of patients records from two hospitals in Nouakchott (Cheikh Zayid Hospital and National Hospital Center) over 5 years period for histologically con irmed breast cancer. Th parameters studied were age, location, size, type, histological grade and immunochemistry. Results : We collected 330 cases. The average age of the patients was 52 years old with extremes of 21 and 91 years. The left breast was reached in 170 cases (51.52%) and the right breast in 159 cases (48.18%). Tumors were larger than 5 cm in 52.41% of cases. Invasive ductal carcinoma was observed in 268 cases (81.21) and lobular carcinoma in 14 cases (4.24). The histopronostic grade of SBR showed the grade II in 34.86% of cases. Estrogen receptors (ERs), progesterone receptors (PRs) and human epidermal growth factor (HER2) were determined in 72 patients with 31 cases of triple negative representing 43.06%. Discussion : This pioneering work has shown that breast cancer is diagnosed late in our context because the majority of our patients consult at an advanced stage of the disease. The prognosis is often not optimistic. Immunohistochemistry is not always feasible which limits the diagnostic and therapeutic management. Our results are comparable to those observed in the subregion. Conclusion : In the future, we must improve the diagnostic and therapeutic management of this cancer by: improving the diagnostic platform by introducing and popularizing immunohistochemistry in pathological anatomy laboratories but also by education and awareness of our populations for early diagnosis