Breast self-exam and patient interval associate with advanced breast cancer and treatment delay in Mexican women.

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to compare treatment intervals in breast cancer patients according to the detection method (breast self-exam vs screening).

PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis including 291 breast cancer patients at a Mexican tertiary referral hospital.

RESULTS: Breast cancer detection method was mostly breast self-exam (60%). The median patient interval was 60.5 days, and was associated with marital status and socioeconomic level. Differences between the two groups were statistically significant for global interval, p = 0.002; however, health system interval was not statistically different.

CONCLUSION: In our country, breast cancer screening is opportunistic, with several weaknesses within its management and quality systems. Our study showed that even in specialized health care centers, breast cancer is detected by self-exam in up to 2/3 of patients, which can explain the advanced stages at diagnosis in our country. In developing countries, the immediate health care access for breast cancer patients should be prioritized as an initial step to reduce the global treatment initiation interval in order to reduce mortality.