The AMAZONA Project: Retrospective Cohort Study Describing Breast Cancer Patients' Characteristics and Survival in Brazil

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in Brazil and worldwide. There is large variation in survival among patients and molecular subtypes are important prognostic factors. However, most of the data comes from developed countries such as the United States and in Europe. Aim: Our goal was to describe breast cancer patientsu0027 demographic and pathologic characteristics, as well as their survival according to estimated molecular subtypes, assessed by common immunohistochemistry stains. Methods: AMAZONA study is a retrospective cohort conducted from June 2008 to January 2009 including women of at least 18 years old, with histologically proven breast cancer diagnosed in the period between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2001 and between 1 January 2006 and 31 December. Estimated molecular subtypes by local immunohistochemical stains were luminal A, luminal B, HER-2 positive and triple-negative. Data were obtained from medical records and public databases. Kaplan-Meier method was used for data...