An ibs.GRANADA study identifies important inequalities in the diagnosis of breast cancer

A study by the research group A17-Epidemiology and Cancer Control of the Biosanitary Research Institute of Granada (ibs.GRANADA), led by Dr. María José Sánchez, also scientific director of the Institute and professor at the Andalusian School of Public Health and CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), highlights manifested that the economic level of the country, a low sociocultural level, fear and negative beliefs towards cancer, suppose a greater delay in the visit to the doctor when detecting a change in the breast, thus having an impact on the prognosis of the disease.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women and one of the leading causes of cancer mortality. Breast cancer survival is lower in low-income countries, partly because of the paucity of early detection programs for breast cancer and the large proportion of women who are diagnosed with advanced-stage disease.

To better understand this problem, a recent study, led by Dafina Petrova, a postdoctoral researcher at the Biosanitary Research Institute of Granada and the CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health, analyzed the inequalities in the diagnosis of breast cancer in the different countries of the world. The research collected data from 50 studies and 18.014 breast cancer patients from low- and middle-income countries, looking at the time it took patients to see a health professional from when their symptoms were first detected.

“For the majority of patients in European countries like Spain, a month or less passes between the moment they detect a change in the breast and the moment they are seen by a doctor. However, for patients residing in poorer countries, it usually takes between 3 and 4 months, something that could lead to diagnosing breast cancer at a more advanced stage, when treatments are more aggressive and cure is more difficult." explains Dafina Petrova.

The reasons for these delays are complex and linked to social and cultural circumstances. Some of the factors identified in this study by ibs.GRANADA, the Andalusian School of Public Health, the CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health, the National Epidemiology Center of the Carlos III Health Institute and the University of Granada, which were associated with delays higher in the diagnosis of breast cancer, were illiteracy, low knowledge about cancer, fear and negative beliefs about cancer, the use of alternative medicine and distrust in the health system.

About the research group

The ibs.GRANADA “Epidemiology and Cancer Control” research group, whose lead researcher is Dr. María José Sánchez, as well as the scientific director of this institute, is a research group that was created in 1985, long before the creation of the ibs.GRANADA. It includes researchers from the Andalusian School of Public Health (EASP) and CIBERESP with extensive training and experience in different areas: oncology, cancer epidemiology, statistics, health economics, environmental epidemiology, nutritional epidemiology, public health, anthropology and psychology. . Investigators have participated in multicenter research projects, both national and international, related to etiology, medical care and survival of cancer patients, environmental epidemiology, and health economics.

More information about the group at https://www.ibsgranada.es/grupos-de-investigacion/a17-epidemiologia-cancer/

Bibliographic reference:

Petrova D, Garrido D, Špacírová Z, Fernández‐Martínez NF, Ivanova G, Rodríguez‐Barranco M, Pollán M, Barrios‐Rodríguez R, Sánchez MJ. Duration of the patient interval in breast cancer and factors associated with longer delays in low‐and middle‐income countries: A systematic review with meta‐analysis. Psycho‐Oncology. 2023;32(1):13-24.