Nationwide analysis of the breast cancer guidelines adherence in Bulgaria

Bibliographic Details
Title: Nationwide analysis of the breast cancer guidelines adherence in Bulgaria
Authors: Dobromir Dimitrov, Iskra Daskalova, Ivelina Petrova, Meri Shoshkova, Tsanko Yotsov, Damyan Boychev, Tihomir Andreev, Nikolai Ramadanov, Martin Karamanliev
Source: Clinical Surgical Oncology, Vol 3, Iss 2, Pp 100044- (2024)
Publisher Information: Elsevier, 2024.
Publication Year: 2024
Collection: LCC:Surgery
LCC:Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens
Subject Terms: Breast cancer, Analysis, Artificial intelligence, Core needle biopsy, Breast conserving surgery, Surgery, RD1-811, Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens, RC254-282
More Details: Introduction: The diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer have tremendously changed in the last decades improving the survival and quality of life of the patients. Adherence to clinical practice guidelines in oncology significantly improves patients’ recurrence-free and overall survival. Nowadays, no national registry/database for breast cancer patients is available. This study aims to perform a nationwide analysis of the breast cancer guidelines adherence in Bulgaria, in particular regarding the diagnostic methods for histological confirmation and the types of radical surgery performed using an artificial intelligence (AI) powered software. Materials and methods: We analyzed data from January 2019 to August 2023 nationwide using the platform with access to anonymized medical information from Bulgaria's leading territorial oncology hospitals. A total of 13,790 patients met the inclusion criteria. Results: The gold standard diagnostic tool, CNB, was done in 5427 patients (39.35%), an intraoperative frozen section was performed as a method for confirmation of breast cancer in 6257 patients (45.37%) and the standard technique for lymph node evaluation, sentinel lymph node biopsy, was done in 357 patients (2.99%). Conclusion: In Bulgaria, there are still difficulties in achieving comparable rates of core-needle biopsy for the diagnosis of breast cancer and we have demonstrated unacceptably high rates of frozen section use for intraoperative diagnosis of breast cancer. Breast-conserving surgery is widely accepted and available, but still, the rates are lower than usual for developed countries. The rates of sentinel lymph node biopsy, however, are unreasonably low.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 2773-160X
Relation: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2773160X24000126; https://doaj.org/toc/2773-160X
DOI: 10.1016/j.cson.2024.100044
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/dc3af429d77e47749f3b1692832fd184
Accession Number: edsdoj.3af429d77e47749f3b1692832fd184
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:2773160X
DOI:10.1016/j.cson.2024.100044
Published in:Clinical Surgical Oncology
Language:English