OBJECTIVES:

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer in the female population in Hungary. This study aimed to analyze the clinical and pathological characteristics of newly diagnosed BC patients and to identify changes in these parameters at a university center in Hungary between 2010 and 2020.

METHODS:

We performed a retrospective analysis using the DataLake clinical database which contains detailed data on in-/out-patient services of all patients examined and/or treated at the University of Pécs. In the analysis, we included all patients who were newly diagnosed with BC (ICD code: C50) from January 2010 to December 2020. Based on hormone receptor (i.e., estrogen and progesterone receptors) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status, cases were classified into HR-negative/HER2-negative, HR-positive/HER2-negative, HR-negative/HER2-positive and HR-positive/HER2-positive subtypes. Data management and statistical analysis were performed using R software; descriptive statistics and nonparametric tests were applied.

RESULTS:

During the study period, 4,001 patients had medical care because of BC at the University of Pécs; 3,000 patients were newly diagnosed. Number of newly diagnosed BC patients per year ranged between 235 (in 2011) and 303 (in 2014). Median age of newly diagnosed patients decreased significantly during follow-up (in 2010: 71 years, in 2020: 65 years; P<0.001). Our results showed, that the majority of patients (67.38%) had HR-positive/HER2-negative BC; however, during the study period there was a significant increasing trend in HER2-positive cases (in 2010: 13.94%, in 2020: 29.52%; P=0.001). We found no differences in stage distribution among newly diagnosed BC patients between 2010 and 2020.

CONCLUSIONS:

The decreasing trend in the age at diagnosis of BC and the increasing trend of HER2-positive cases should be considered by clinicians and policymakers in the management of BC. Further studies are warranted to explore the underlying factors behind these patterns.