%0 Journal Article
%T Comparison of breast cancer survival in two populations: Ardabil, Iran and British Columbia, Canada
%A Alireza Sadjadi
%A T Gregory Hislop
%A Chris Bajdik
%A Morteza Bashash
%A Anahita Ghorbani
%A Mehdi Nouraie
%A Masoud Babaei
%A Reza Malekzadeh
%A Parvin Yavari
%J BMC Cancer
%D 2009
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2407-9-381
%X All newly diagnosed cases of female breast cancer were identified in the Ardabil cancer registry from 2003 to 2005 and the BC cancer registry for 2003. The International Classification of Disease for Oncology (ICDO) was used for coding cancer morphology and topography. Survival time was determined from cancer diagnosis to death. Age-specific one-year survival rates, relative survival rates and weighted standard errors were calculated using life-tables for each country.Breast cancer patients in BC had greater one-year survival rates than patients in Ardabil overall and for each age group under 60.These findings support the need for breast cancer screening programs (including regular clinical breast examinations and mammography), public education and awareness regarding early detection of breast cancer, and education of health care providers.Despite the extensive knowledge about incidence and survival rates for cancer in the western world, little information is available for the majority of developing countries [1,2]. International comparisons involving developing countries are few in number. Where done, survival differences have been largely attributed to differences in patient's age, stage of disease at diagnosis, and the presence of metastasis. Socioeconomic factors, differential access to health care, insurance status, comorbidities, and tolerance to prescribed treament have also been suggested to determine survival [3-5]. Immigration status and ethnicity may also play a role. A study of breast cancer among ethnic Chinese women reported that those born in East Asia had lower survival than those born in the US [6]. A recent study in British Columbia (BC) compared survival for three cancer sites in Chinese, South Asians and the predominantly Caucasian general population and found that Chinese women had the highest survival rates for both breast and cervical cancer, whereas South Asian women had the highest rate for colorectal cancer and the lowest rate for cervical
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2407/9/381