The following is a summary of “Analysis of the Incidence and Outcomes of Breast Cancer in Women with Schizophrenia,” published in the November 2024 issue of Surgery by Den et al.    

Worldwide, breast cancer (BC) is the leading cause of cancer death, with higher mortality rates in women with schizophrenia. 

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to assess the incidence and outcomes of BC in women with schizophrenia.  

They analyzed data from the TriNetX database, identifying women aged 18 and older diagnosed with schizophrenia. The incidence of primary BC (January 2011 and December 2023) was evaluated and stratified by ethnicity. A cohort study compared the outcomes of women on and off antipsychotics one year before BC diagnosis, adjusting for age, obesity, tobacco use, socioeconomic status, cancer stage, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, axillary lymph node dissection (ALND), sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB), and hormone therapy.  

The results showed that BC incidence in women with schizophrenia was 0.53% in 2011 and 0.53% in 2022, with a peak of 1.29% in 2017. Non-Hispanic patients were diagnosed with BC 1.3 times more often than Hispanic. A cohort of 183,062 matched patients (91,531 per group) revealed that women not on antipsychotics had a higher 5-year OS rate (72% vs. 60%, P<0.0001). Patients also had lower risks of local recurrence (13.4% vs. 22.6%, P<0.0001), chemotherapy need (41.2% vs. 48.4%, P<0.0001), and lymphedema (7.7% vs. 11.5%, P<0.0001).  

They concluded that women with schizophrenia on antipsychotics had worse BC outcomes, including higher mortality, recurrence, chemotherapy need, and risk of lymphedema.  

Source: americanjournalofsurgery.com/article/S0002-9610(24)00602-0/abstract