Modelling Excess Mortality Among Breast Cancer Patients in the North East Region of Peninsular Malaysia, 2007-2011: A Population-Based Study

Abstract

Measurement of breast cancer burden and identification of its influencing factors help in the development of public health policy and strategy against the disease. This study aimed to examine the variability of the excess mortality of female breast cancer patients in the North East Region of Peninsular Malaysia. This retrospective cohort study was conducted using breast cancer data from the Kelantan Cancer Registry between 2007 and 2011, and Kelantan general population mortality data. The breast cancer cases were followed up for five years until 2016. Out of 598 cases, 549 cases met the study criteria and were included in the analysis. Modelling of excess mortality was conducted using Poisson regression. Excess mortality of breast cancer varied according to age group (50 years old and below vs above 50 years old, Adj. EHR: 1.47; 95% CI: 1.31, 4.09; P=0.004), ethnicity (Malay vs non-Malay, Adj. EHR: 2.31; 95% CI: 1.11, 1.96; P=0.008), and stage (stage III and IV vs. stage I and II, Adj. EHR: 5.75; 95% CI: 4.24, 7.81; P<0.001). In conclusion, public health policy and strategy aim to improve cancer survival should focus more on patients presented at age below 50 years old, Malay ethnicity, and at a later stage.

A comparison of breast cancer survival across different age groups: a multicentric database study in Penang, Malaysia

“…This finding was parallel to previous population-based studies by Abdullah (2013) who compared breast cancer survival between patients with age at diagnosis <50 years and ≥50 years and Nematolahi (2017), who compared younger, middle-aged, and elderly women in Iran [10,18]. Nevertheless, our finding was in contrast with another local study conducted in Kelantan that showed younger women to have a higher excess hazard and poorer survival following a breast cancer diagnosis [9]. However, in this study, we had identified that age groups were the confounding factors in this study.…”

“…Next, age at diagnosis was found to be a significant predictor of the survival of breast cancer, echoing another population-based study done in Malaysia [9]. However, most studies did not identify the most affected age group.…”

“…Even though the relationship between breast cancer survival and age at diagnosis has been explored in many studies, the information on survival in different age groups remains unclear, especially in Asian settings. Furthermore, there have been conflicting results between the published evidence in which some studies reported poor survival among young women [9], whereas others claimed that elderly patients had poorer survival [10].…”

Modelling excess mortality among breast cancer patients in the North East Region of Peninsular Malaysia, 2007–2011: a population-based study

“…The publication of this study was supported by the School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Also, an earlier version of this manuscript has been published on Preprints [44].…”

Correlation between apparent diffusion coefficient and pathological characteristics of patients with invasive breast cancer

“…The high incidence rate of breast cancer makes it one of the most common malignant tumors in women and, moreover, the incidence rate is still increasing (1)(2)(3). It is still one of the important causes of death in female patients (4)(5)(6)(7). Routine examination methods include ultrasound examination, breast molybdenum target examination, breast MRI examination and biopsy, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.…”