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Meta-Analysis
. 2024 Aug 16;24(1):1017.
doi: 10.1186/s12885-024-12768-8.

Proportion of early-stage breast cancer at diagnosis in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Kebebe Bekele  1 , Fikadu Nugusu  2 , Girma Beressa  3 , Taylor Hollis  4 , Alberto Ferreres  5 , Dereje Duguma  6 , Bokona Guta  7 , Lily Gutnik  8 , Bekena Lemesse  9 , Habtamu Gezahegn  10
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Proportion of early-stage breast cancer at diagnosis in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Kebebe Bekele et al. BMC Cancer. .

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer-affecting women globally, with disproportionally high mortality rates in lower-income countries, including Ethiopia. The stage at diagnosis is a well-defined predictive system that determines the likelihood of breast cancer mortality. Early-stage breast cancer at diagnosis is associated with better treatment outcomes as compared with late stage. Although there are numerous primary studies on women with breast cancer with different proportions of early-stage breast cancer, there is currently no summary data on what proportion of breast cancer was diagnosed at early-stage in Ethiopia. This study focused on a pooled proportion of early-stage breast cancer at diagnosis in Ethiopia.

Methods: By using key terms, Medline through Pub-Med, Google Scholar, Science Direct, HINARI and Medley were searched about breast cancer in Ethiopia, and a total of 288 articles were retrieved. After screening the articles and quality of each article was assessed using Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Finally, 41 articles were used for the final pooled proportion. A random effects model was used to estimate the pooled prevalence and heterogeneity of included studies that were then assessed by using prediction interval.

Results: Pooled proportion of early-stage breast cancer at diagnosis in Ethiopian hospitals was found to be 36% with a 95% confidence interval ranging from 31 to 41% and a 95% prediction interval ranging from 28 to 45%.

Conclusion: Most breast cancer patients (64%) in Ethiopia are diagnosed at a late-stage. This contributes to the high mortality rates of breast cancer among women in Ethiopia. Therefore, in line with recommendations by the World Health Organization, we recommend that there should be an emphasis in Ethiopia to focus on early detection of breast cancer.

Keywords: Breast cancer; Early stage cancer; Ethiopia.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA flow diagram of included studies which shows process of selection possible
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Forest plot showing pooled proportion of early breast cancer detection from 41 studies on diagnosis among Ethiopian hospital
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The pooled proportion of early breast cancer at diagnosis is 0.36 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.31 to 0.41
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Funnel plot testing publication bias (random, N = 41)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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