Survival deficits in young women with breast cancer in sub-Saharan Africa: the African Breast Cancer–Disparities in Outcomes cohort

Researchers from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and partner institutions have found that women in sub-Saharan Africa who are diagnosed with breast cancer before the age of 40 years have a lower survival rate than women who are diagnosed when older than 40 years. Crucially, higher mortality rates were found to occur in young women with breast cancer diagnosed within 3 years of giving birth, and these were not explained by triple-negative breast cancer or infection with HIV, which are both less prevalent in young women than in women aged 40–59 years. The results were published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

These new findings come from the analysis of data from a prospective cohort of women aged 18 years and older who were newly diagnosed with breast cancer in five countries in sub-Saharan Africa during 2014–2017 and were actively followed up for up to 7 years. Among more than 2000 women, more than 20% were diagnosed before the age of 40 years.

The higher mortality rates found to occur in women with breast cancer diagnosed within 3 years of giving birth indicate that this is a patient group with specific needs for early detection, treatment support, and research. In addition, mortality of women with young families has an intergenerational impact on the education, welfare, and finances of the family, as described in a recent IARC Evidence Summary Brief.

Mo T, Partridge A, Joffe M, Cubasch H, Galukande M, Parham G, et al.
Survival deficits in young women with breast cancer in sub-Saharan Africa: the African Breast Cancer–Disparities in Outcomes cohort
J Natl Cancer Inst. Published online 7 August 2025;
https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djaf213

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Read the IARC Evidence Summary Brief on Maternal Orphans due to Cancer