Diagnostic and Therapeutic Options of Breast Cancer Patients in Yaounde, Cameroon

Introduction: Breast cancer remains a public health problem due to its severity and because it is the leading cause of death from cancers in women worldwide as well as in Cameroon. Our objective was to study the diagnostic and therapeutic options that patients followed for breast cancer choose in Yaounde. Method: This was an analytical cross-sectional study with prospective data collection among patients followed for breast cancer at two referral hospitals in Yaounde from February 1, 2019 to August 31, 2019. Data collected were recorded and analyzed using R application version 3.5.0., p values < 0.05 were considered to be statistically significant. Results: A total of 105 patients were recruited, including 104 women and 1 man. The median age was 46 years with extremes of 25 and 77 years. Most patients (71%) had a monthly income of less than 175 USD. Patients in this study had opted for: contemporary medicine (49.5%), therapeutic abstention (38.1%), naturopathy (1.9%), self-medication (9.5%) and traditional medicine (1%). The factors significantly associated with the choice of contemporary medicine as a first diagnostic option were monthly income above 175 USD (OR = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.15 - 0.89, p = 0.028), good level of education (OR = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.16 - 0.82, p = 0.034) and good knowledge about breast cancer (OR = 0.28, 95% CI: 0.08 - 0.89, p = 0.005). The majority of patients (65.7%) sought contemporary medicine as the first therapeutic option after a diagnosis of breast cancer was confirmed, while about a third of them had chosen alternative treatment options including naturopathy (15.2%), traditional medicine (9.5%), religious practices (4.8%), therapeutic abstention (2.9%) and self-medication (1.9%). Conclusion: The first diagnostic and therapeutic choices of breast cancer patients in our setting are numerous and intricate, including contemporary medicine, therapeutic abstention, self-medication, traditional medicine, naturopathy and religious practices. There is a need to promote breast cancer awareness in our population.