Post-surgical management of patients with breast cancer at Kenyatta National Hospital

Abstract

Objective: To assess post-surgical management of patients with breast cancer at the Kenyatta National Hospital. Design: Retrospective analysis of patients treated for breast carcinoma at Kenyatta National Hospital between January 1989 and January 2000. Setting: Kenyatta National Hospital. Subjects: Three hundred and seventy-four patients who had surgery or biopsy for breast cancer at the Kenyatta National Hospital. Intervention: Chemo-hormonal therapy and/or radiotherapy for adjuvant, metastatic, or palliative purposes. Results: Twenty-two patients received adjuvant chemotherapy, and 21 patients received chemotherapy for metastatic disease. Forty-six patients received adjuvant radiotherapy and 53 had radiotherapy for palliative purposes. One hundred and twenty-six patients were given tamoxifen for adjuvant and metastatic purposes. The median duration of follow-up was 20 months. Conclusion: Chemotherapy is grossly underutilized in the treatment of breast cancer at the Kenyatta National Hospital, and radiotherapy is also underutilized. Follow-up durations are dismal and if this is used as a surrogate measure for survival then survival durations for breast cancer patients are also dismal at the Kenyatta National Hospital.