Barriers to early breast cancer diagnosis in the South African setting

Researchers at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, South Africa, and IARC quantify the association between geographical access to health care and more advanced stage at breast cancer diagnosis, a strong prognostic indicator. In a peri-urban South African setting, women living beyond 20 km from the hospital had a considerably later stage at diagnosis, a shorter distance than previously thought. This effect was more pronounced in an underrepresented group of patients over the age of 70. Targeting efforts for early diagnosis of breast cancer in these women could improve diagnostic stage and help reduce the number of lives taken by breast cancer in these settings. This study is published in the International Journal of Cancer.

C. Dickens, M. Joffe, J. Jacobson, F. Venter, J. Schüz, H. Cubasch, V. McCormack
Stage at breast cancer diagnosis and distance from diagnostic hospital in a periurban setting: A South African public hospital case series of over 1,000 women.
Int J Cancer. doi: 10.1002/ijc.28861. [Article first published online: 7 APR 2014]
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