Profile of patients with breast cancer in a hospital reference in Ceará

Breast cancer is the most common in women and is the second cause of death by cancer among them. The purpose of this study was to describe the level of incidence and predominance of breast cancer, and verify if the principal factors of known risks are present. We used the individual, observational, analytical and sectioned study, conducted with 1934 people, men and women diagnosed with breast cancer, registered in a reference hospital in Ceará within the period of 2000 to 2003. The data were collected in the hospital database and processed in the EPI-INFO 6.04. Our studies showed that the incidence of breast cancer is increasing in people less than fifty years of age, which is more evident in a population composed by public service users and low school level. We conclude that the study has a great importance for the development of other researches that emphasize epidemiological data of breast cancer