OBJECTIVES: To conduct a systematic literature review on the burden of HR+/HER2- locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer in Mexico, including epidemiological studies, and humanistic and economic burden.

METHODS: The electronic databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, LILACS, SciELO and Redalyc were systematically searched for publications from January 1, 2008 to present. The search strategy was based on the pre-determined MeSH headings (Breast cancer) AND (Mexico). Two reviewers independently assessed the eligibility of the studies. The AMSTAR quality criteria were taken into account in order to guarantee the methodological quality of the systematic review.

RESULTS: Of the 293 records initially selected, 34 have been included in this review. The incidence of breast cancer has been estimated by Globocan in 27,283 new cases in 2018. Breast cancer deaths have increased in Mexico from 2,323 in 1990 to 5,902 in 2013 (Gómez-Dantes et al., 2016). A study including 893 patients that were operated from breast cancer found a prevalence of HR+/HER2- type of 58.1% (Mamani-Cancino, 2014). Tenorio and Vargas (2008) compared the quality of life of patients with metastatic breast cancer with and without disease progression: 78.2% of patients with no progression reported a good or very good status, compared with 23.6% of patients with disease progression. Three studies evaluated the direct costs of treatment for advanced breast cancer (Juarez-Garcia et al., 2010; Knaul et al., 2009; Balderas-Peña et al., 2010). All showed a substantial increase in costs of care for more advanced cases. For example, the study from Knaul et al. estimated a yearly cost of stage IV cases of $MX 199,274 per case compared to $MX 154,018 for stage III.

CONCLUSIONS: The few studies on the the humanistic and economic burden of advanced breast cancer in Mexico show a large burden of this disease.