CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL PROFILE OF WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER TREATED IN THE CENTRAL REGION OF RIO GRANDE DO SUL, BRAZIL

Background: breast cancer remains the leading cause of death from cancer in Brazil among women, despite advances in the fields of prevention and treatment. The knowledge on the molecular subtypes of the disease is relatively recent, when compared to traditional diagnostic methods and can be useful in the planning of therapeutic strategies and prognosis of affected patients. Purpose: this study aims to analyze the sociodemographic profile and clinicopathological conditions of women with breast cancer, treated in a public service in the central region of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Methodology: this is an observational, cross-sectional study, which was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Franciscan University, Santa Maria, RS, under number 3.073.678. For the definition of groups according to immunohistochemical profile, we chose a classification based on evaluation of estrogen and progesterone receptors, Ki67 cell proliferation index and HER2 overexpression, grouped into four subtypes: luminal A, luminal B-HER2 positive and negative, triple negative and overexpressed HER2. Results: were evaluated 132 women with a mean age of 59.0 years (± 12.7), self-declared white (79.5%), with a partner (53.8%), studied up to nine years (65.2%) and resident in the urban area (72.7%). They had been using contraceptives for 10 years (median) 75.8% and had not been on hormone replacement therapy 86.4%. Invasive ductal carcinoma affected 87.9% of the participants. The most frequent molecular subtypes were Luminal B (42.4%) and Luminal A (37.9%), followed by the triple negative (12.9%) and overexpression of HER2 (6.8%). Women with Luminal A subtype were older (P=0.016), also had, more often, up to nine years of schooling, while women with HER2 overexpression and triple negative, more than nine years of formal study (P=0.042). Conclusion: we identified invasive ductal carcinoma and the Luminal B subtype as the most prevalent in the participants. The factors age and education level were associated with molecular subgroups in this population. The results presented reiterate the importance of knowing the characteristics and clinicopathological profile of women with breast cancer, since this information can assist in the diagnosis and choice of treatment, as well as guide health strategies and actions for the region studied.