Epidemiology and trends of patients with breast cancer referred to Tehran Cancer Diagnosis Centers during 1997 to 2016

Cancer is considered as one of the leading causes of mortality in the world and breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancers among women in the world. The number of cancerous cases in the world is gradually increasing. The present study aimed to describe the characteristics of women with breast cancer referred to cancer diagnosis centers in Tehran, and predict the frequency of patients by 2022 with respect to the frequency of data during 1997-2016. In this cross-sectional study, the population included 3753 patients, who were admitted to five independent cancer centers in Tehran, Iran during 1997-2016. All of the collected data were extracted to describe the characteristics of patients, as well as forecasting the frequency of this cancer by 2022 in Tehran. The data were analyzed by STATA 12 and MINITAB version 17 software. The results indicated that the highest occurrence occur between the 40s and 50s of women's life. In addition, these patients were overweight, used oral contraceptive pills (OCP), and experienced life-threatening events. Further, the prediction models demonstrated an upward trend in the prevalence of the disease by 2022. It seems that there is an increasing trend in the number of breast cancer in patients referred to cancer diagnosis centers in Tehran by considering the changes in women's lifestyle, increasing awareness about screening this cancer, as well as developing diagnostic techniques.