Nationwide analysis of the breast cancer guidelines adherence in Bulgaria

Study type

• Study topic:
  Disease /health condition
• Study type:
  Non-interventional study
• Scope of the study:
  Other
• If ‘other’, further details on the scope of the study:
  Nationwide analyses of breast cancer
• Data collection methods:
  Secondary use of data

Non-interventional study

• Non-interventional study design:
  Cohort

Population studied

• Short description of the study population:
  Data from January 2019 to August 2023 nationwide was analyzed using the platform with access to anonymized medical information from Bulgaria’s leading territorial oncology hospitals. A total of 13,790 patients met the inclusion criteria.
• Age groups:
  All

  In utero

  Paediatric Population (< 18 years)

  Neonate

  Preterm newborn infants (0 – 27 days)

  Term newborn infants (0 – 27 days)

  Infants and toddlers (28 days – 23 months)

  Children (2 to < 12 years)

  Adolescents (12 to < 18 years)

  Adult and elderly population (≥18 years)

  Adults (18 to < 65 years)

  Adults (18 to < 46 years)

  Adults (46 to < 65 years)

  Elderly (≥ 65 years)

  Adults (65 to < 75 years)

  Adults (75 to < 85 years)

  Adults (85 years and over)

Study design details

• Study design:
  Assess adherence to breast cancer diagnostic and treatment guidelines in Bulgaria using RWD processed and analyzed by Danny Platform.
• Main study objective:
  Evaluate the utilization rates of core-needle biopsy, frozen section, breast-conserving surgery, and sentinel lymph node biopsy.; Identify challenges and opportunities for improving adherence to international guidelines in Bulgaria.;
• Summary results:
  The analysis revealed suboptimal adherence to breast cancer diagnostic and treatment guidelines in Bulgaria.; Low utilization of core-needle biopsy (CNB), high reliance on frozen sections, and below-average rates of breast-conserving surgery and sentinel lymph node biopsy were observed. ; The gold standard diagnostic tool, CNB, was done in 5,427 patients (39.35%), an intraoperative frozen section was performed as a method for confirmation of breast cancer in 6,257 patients (45.37%) and the standard technique for lymph node evaluation, sentinel lymph node biopsy, was done in 357 patients (2.99%).; These findings highlight the need for targeted interventions to improve guideline adherence and patient outcomes in Bulgaria.

Documents

Study report

Nationwide analysis of the breast cancer guidelines adherence in Bulgaria_ScienceDirect_1.pdf

Study publications

Nationwide Analysis of Breast Cancer Guidelines Adherence in Bulgaria