Breast cancer by age at diagnosis in the Gharbiah, Egypt, population-based registry compared to the United States Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program, 2004-2008.
OBJECTIVE
Although breast cancers (BCs) in young women often display more aggressive features, younger women are generally not screened for early detection. It is important to understand the characteristics of young onset breast cancer to increase awareness in this population. This analysis includes all ages, with emphasis placed on younger onset BC in Egypt as compared to the United States.


METHODS
BC cases in the Gharbiah cancer registry (GCR), Egypt, were compared to those in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. This analysis included 3,819 cases from the GCR and 273,019 from SEER diagnosed 2004-2008.


RESULTS
GCR cases were diagnosed at later stages, with <5% diagnosed at Stage I and 12% diagnosed at Stage IV. 48% of all SEER cases were diagnosed at Stage I, dropping to 30% among those ≤40. Significant differences in age, tumor grade, hormone receptor status, histology, and stage exist between GCR and SEER BCs. After adjustment, GCR cases were nearly 45 times more likely to be diagnosed at stage III and 16 times more likely to be diagnosed at stage IV than SEER cases.


CONCLUSIONS
Future research should examine ways to increase literacy about early detection and prompt therapy in young cases.
Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
Jennifer A
JA
Schlichting
Department of Epidemiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USA.
Amr S
AS
Soliman
Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Catherine
C
Schairer
Center for Global Health, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Joe B
JB
Harford
Tanta Cancer Center, Tanta, Gharbiah 31111, Egypt.
Ahmed
A
Hablas
Tanta Cancer Center, Tanta, Gharbiah 31111, Egypt.
Mohamed
M
Ramadan
Tanta Cancer Center, Tanta, Gharbiah 31111, Egypt.
Ibrahim
I
Seifeldin
Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA ; Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
Sofia D
SD
Merajver
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004534:Egypt / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D012042:Registries; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology