Breast cancer control policies in Brazil: where to go from here?

Tendência Temporal da Cobertura de Mamografias no Sistema Único de Saúde, Brasil, 2010-2019

Introdução: O câncer de mama no Brasil apresenta elevadas taxas de incidência e mortalidade apesar da tendência de redução da mortalidade em algumas Regiões. Objetivo: Descrever a tendência da cobertura de mamografias de rastreamento nas Macrorregiões e Estados brasileiros e identificar a influência de Políticas Nacionais voltadas ao controle do câncer de mama entre 2010-2019. Método: Foi calculada a razão entre mamografias de rastreamento na faixa etária de 50-69 anos por local de residência e subtraída a população das residentes com plano de saúde na faixa etária e no período referidos. A tendência foi avaliada pelo modelo de regressão Joinpoint. Resultados: A cobertura aumentou no Brasil de 2010-2014 e apresentou queda de 2014-2019, com aumento na proporção de exames realizados na população-alvo. Esse padrão foi observado nas demais Regiões, exceto na Centro-Oeste, porém com ano de mudança da tendência diferente. Foram identificados dois pontos de mudança no país: de 2010-2014, com tendência crescente (APC 8,7, IC 95% 6,2; 11,3), e de 2014-2019, com tendência decrescente (APC -4,2, IC 95% -5,7; -2,7), ambos significantes. A Região Nordeste foi a única com três pontos de mudança de tendência: 2010-2012 (APC 30,3, IC 95% 22,9; 38,2), 2012-2017 (APC 4,7, IC 95% 3,0; 6,4) e 2017-2019 (APC -14,9, IC 95% -19,7; - 9,8). Não foi identificada tendência para a Região Centro-Oeste. Conclusão: Houve crescimento na proporção de mamografias de rastreamento realizadas na população-alvo no período, para Brasil e Regiões, e tendência de redução na cobertura da mamografia a partir de 2014. Esses resultados indicam priorização da população-alvo do programa nas ações de rastreamento.

Determinants of Lack of Access to Treatment for Women Diagnosed with Breast Cancer in Brazil

Access to timely treatment is essential for the probability of the cure and reduction of severe breast cancer cases. In Brazil, legislation states that cancer treatment must start within 60 days of diagnosis. This study analyzed the factors associated with lack of access to breast cancer treatment in women with a confirmed diagnosis inserted in the health system. We collected secondary data from Brazilian women with a diagnosis and without treatment from January to December 2019 through the Cancer Hospital Registers developed by the National Cancer Institute. Our findings indicate that most women (60.11%) are diagnosed with stage II cancer but are without treatment. Most of them are aged 18–70 years, non-white race/color, have a low educational level and are from the Southeast Brazilian region. In addition, social inequalities are determinant in women’s lack of access to breast cancer treatment.

Healthy lifestyle behaviors and the periodicity of mammography screening in Brazilian women

Introduction:

Certain behaviors have been associated with health promotion, including mammography screening, in women worldwide.

Objective:

The objective of this study was to determine whether there is an association between the periodicity of mammography screening and healthy lifestyle behaviors in Brazilian women employed at a public university in Bahia, Brazil.

Methods:

A total of 635 women of 50–69 years of age at the time of the interview, from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health cohort who were resident in Bahia, participated in the study. Data were collected using a multidimensional questionnaire that included questions on participants’ sociodemographic characteristics and health-related behaviors (smoking, alcohol consumption, leisure-time physical activity and diet) and another questionnaire that dealt with risk factors and breast cancer screening. Measures of association were calculated using simple and multivariate logistic regression.

Results:

The practice of physical activity, not smoking, moderate alcohol consumption and a healthy diet were the health behaviors most adopted by the women who had last had a mammogram ⩽2 years previously (which is in line with the interval recommended by the Brazilian Ministry of Health). A statistically significant association was found between a lapse of ⩾3 years since last undergoing mammography screening and excessive alcohol consumption, while a borderline association was found between the same screening interval and leisure-time physical inactivity.

Conclusion:

There was an association between lifestyle risk behaviors and a longer time interval between mammography screenings. The present results contribute to the debate on the use of mammography, lifestyle behaviors and health promotion among women.

Economic Evaluation of Population-Based BRCA1/BRCA2 Mutation Testing across Multiple Countries and Health Systems

Clinical criteria/Family history-based BRCA testing misses a large proportion of BRCA carriers who can benefit from screening/prevention. We estimate the cost-effectiveness of population-based BRCA testing in general population women across different countries/health systems. A Markov model comparing the lifetime costs and effects of BRCA1/BRCA2 testing all general population women ≥30 years compared with clinical criteria/FH-based testing. Separate analyses are undertaken for the UK/USA/Netherlands (high-income countries/HIC), China/Brazil (upper–middle income countries/UMIC) and India (low–middle income countries/LMIC) using both health system/payer and societal perspectives. BRCA carriers undergo appropriate screening/prevention interventions to reduce breast cancer (BC) and ovarian cancer (OC) risk. Outcomes include OC, BC, and additional heart disease deaths and incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER)/quality-adjusted life year (QALY). Probabilistic/one-way sensitivity analyses evaluate model uncertainty. For the base case, from a societal perspective, we found that population-based BRCA testing is cost-saving in HIC (UK-ICER = $−5639/QALY; USA-ICER = $−4018/QALY; Netherlands-ICER = $−11,433/QALY), and it appears cost-effective in UMIC (China-ICER = $18,066/QALY; Brazil-ICER = $13,579/QALY), but it is not cost-effective in LMIC (India-ICER = $23,031/QALY). From a payer perspective, population-based BRCA testing is highly cost-effective in HIC (UK-ICER = $21,191/QALY, USA-ICER = $16,552/QALY, Netherlands-ICER = $25,215/QALY), and it is cost-effective in UMIC (China-ICER = $23,485/QALY, Brazil−ICER = $20,995/QALY), but it is not cost-effective in LMIC (India-ICER = $32,217/QALY). BRCA testing costs below $172/test (ICER = $19,685/QALY), which makes it cost-effective (from a societal perspective) for LMIC/India. Population-based BRCA testing can prevent an additional 2319 to 2666 BC and 327 to 449 OC cases per million women than the current clinical strategy. Findings suggest that population-based BRCA testing for countries evaluated is extremely cost-effective across HIC/UMIC health systems, is cost-saving for HIC health systems from a societal perspective, and can prevent tens of thousands more BC/OC cases.