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. 2021 Mar;21(3):268.
doi: 10.3892/etm.2021.9699. Epub 2021 Jan 25.

Breast cancer mortality gaps in Romanian women compared to the EU after 10 years of accession: Is breast cancer screening a priority for action in Romania? (Review of the Statistics)

Florentina Furtunescu  1 , Roxana Elena Bohiltea  2   3 , Silviu Voinea  4 , Tiberiu Augustin Georgescu  5 , Octavian Munteanu  3   6 , Adrian Neacsu  2   7 , Corina Silvia Pop  8   8
Affiliations

Breast cancer mortality gaps in Romanian women compared to the EU after 10 years of accession: Is breast cancer screening a priority for action in Romania? (Review of the Statistics)

Florentina Furtunescu et al. Exp Ther Med. 2021 Mar.

Abstract

Breast cancer remains the most common cause of morbidity and mortality by cancer in females worldwide, even though it is largely preventable through population screening. Despite notable progress in the last years in the EU, breast cancer screening programs still maintain wide variations among countries and socio-economic groups. This statistical review aimed to investigate the breast cancer-related health gaps in Romanian women compared to the average EU female population after 10 years of accession (2007-2016). We evaluated breast cancer-related deaths, age-standardized mortality rates and contribution of breast cancer to life expectancy. Trends and percentage changes were compared between Romania and EU-27 for breast cancer, all cancer and all causes of mortality. We found a higher increase of breast cancer deaths in Romania, an increasing trend of mortality (opposite to EU) and a contribution to life expectancy at birth that increased gradually from 0.45 to 0 48 years. All these health gaps compared to EU are aggravated by the fact that no population screening for breast cancer is organized in the country. The opportunities for organizing such a program are consistent, but they should be increased in the future, in order to control the health gap between Romania and EU.

Keywords: age-standardized mortality; breast cancer deaths; breast cancer life expectancy; breast cancer screening; gaps in health status.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Change in annual deaths in 2016, compared to 2007: EU and Romania. EU, European Union; RO, Romania.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Trend of annual change in breast cancer-related deaths compared to 2007. EU and Romania. EU, European Union; RO, Romania.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(A) Age standardized mortality rates, 2007-2016, Romania vs. EU for all causes. (B) Age standardized mortality rates, 2007-2016, Romania vs. EU for all cancers. (C) Age standardized mortality rates, 2007-2016, Romania vs. EU for breast cancer. EU, European Union; RO, Romania.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Life expectancy at birth, trends for 2007-2016, Romania vs. EU. EU, European Union; RO, Romania.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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