Sociodemographic profile of patients with triple-negative breast cancer treated at a high-complexity oncology care unit in Bahia

Introduction: Triple-negative breast cancer is a subtype that does not express estrogen, progesterone and human epidermal growth factor type 2 receptors. Worldwide, the incidence rate varies from 15% to 25% and is related to a worse prognosis, being more common in Afro-descendant women under 50 years of age.

Objective: To analyze the sociodemographic profile of patients with triple negative breast cancer.

Method: 416 medical records of women with breast cancer treated from August 2021 to December 2023 were evaluated. Based on immunohistochemistry, 112 medical records were of patients with triple-negative subtype, from which information such as age, race, number of children, income and first sign were extracted.

Results: 112 of 416 breast cancer patients (26.92%) were of the triple negative subtype. The average age was 55.96 years old, with 44 (39.28%) being 50 years old or younger and 68 (60.71%) being over 50 years old. Regarding race, 92 (82.14%) declared themselves to be Afro-descendants (brown or black), 15 (13.39%) white, 1 yellow (0.89%) and 4 records (3.57%) did not present this data. Regarding the number of children, 16 (14.28%) had no children, 38 (33.92%) had 1 or 2, 37 (33.03%) had 3 to 5, 11 (9.82%) had 6 or more and 10 records (8.92%) did not present this data. Regarding income, 39 (34.82%) had an income of up to one minimum wage, 44 (39.28%) had an income of between 1 and 3 minimum wages, 15 (13.39%) had more than 3 minimum wages and 14 records (12.5%) did not have this information. Regarding the first sign of the disease, 1 medical record (0.89%) was without this information, 87 patients (77.67%) noticed some change in the breast that led them to investigation, 1 (0.89%) reported suspicion due to the medical physical examination and 23 (20.53%) presented radiological changes −14 (60.86%) on mammography and breast ultrasound, 5 (21.73%) only on ultrasound and 4 (17.39%) only on mammography.

Conclusion: It is concluded that, in the service studied, this subtype is slightly more expressive than that described worldwide, which may reflect the greater concentration of people of Afro-descendants in the state of Bahia. Furthermore, most patients were over 50 years old and began the investigation due to breast changes, which may indicate low adherence to the screening program. Therefore, it is worth highlighting the fact that self-examination serves as a warning for women to seek specialized care, even though it is no longer widely encouraged.

Corresponding author: Yasmin Ferreira Caprini (e-mail: capriniyasmin@gmail.com).