Fahad Al-Ajmi^1,, Hamad Al-Shatti¹

Background: In the Middle East, Kuwait in particular, the rate of incidence of breast cancer has increased in the past recent years. The objective of this study was to obtain information about the relationship between tumour size and age in early vs. late stage breast cancer in Kuwaiti female patients. Method: A total of 259 files of Kuwaiti women with breast cancer in 2012 were obtained from the Kuwait Cancer Control Center Registry (KCCC). Data were obtained was evaluated and divided into different prognostic variables including patient characteristics, tumour size, tumour grade, TNM, laterality, and treatments. Results: The results showed that the mean age at diagnosis was 54± 11.2. The mean tumour size was 3.4± 2.1 cm. The most frequent stage observed throughout the study, according to TNM staging, was T2N0M0. One hundred and thirty cases were diagnosed as an early stage while sixty-eight cases were diagnosed as a late stage. Conclusion: Larger tumour size, high lymph node involvement and negative ER/PR receptors were observed more in the older age group compared with other studies. An early-stage disease can present with large tumour size >3 cm and late-stage disease can present with small tumour size. More studies are required to find the aetiologies. Women should be encouraged to do screening programs.

Breast cancer, age, Cancer registry, Kuwait, Middle East, Early Stage, Late stage, Chemotherapy, Radiotherapy, Mastectomy, TNM, Lobular, Ductal, Tubular