Editorial
Croatian success in early breast cancer detection: favorable news in Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Boris Brkljačić
; Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Dubrava, University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia
Andrea Šupe Parun
; Croatian Institute of Public Health, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Breast cancer is the third most common malignant cause
of death in women in Croatia, preceded by lung and
colorectal cancer. According to the last available data, in
2017 breast cancer was diagnosed in 2767 patients (rate
132.1/100,000), and in 2019, 752 women died from the disease (rate 35.9/100,000). However, the number of deaths
has been steadily decreasing for four years in a row (2,3).
If we compare the Croatian estimates with those from the
European Union (EU-27) countries, we can see that Croatia
is near the EU-27 average according to cancer burden (15th
out of 27 countries; 14th in men and 19th in women) and
fifth according to cancer mortality. However, when we look
only at breast cancer estimates, the situation is much better; standardized breast cancer mortality rates for Croatia
are below the EU-27 average (16th out of 27 countries) (1).
Although the majority of breast cancer cases are not
preventable, it is crucial to make the diagnosis at an early stage, when more than 90% of women can be cured.
Mammography screening remains the best and widely
validated method of early detection of breast cancer, despite its shortcomings and the emergence of other imaging modalities with high diagnostic accuracy.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
277886
URI
Publication date:
23.10.2020.
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