Poor women in Hong Kong at greater risk from advanced breast cancer

Sep 20, 2011, 7:46 GMT

Hong Kong - Advanced breast cancer in Hong Kong is four times more prevalent among poorer patients of the disease, possible due to lower screening rates, a report published Tuesday has found.

In women from areas where the average monthly income was less than 14,000 Hong Kong dollars (1,700 US dollars), the rate of advanced stage cancer was between 15 and 17.8 per cent, the Hong Kong Breast Cancer Registry said.

This compared with a rate of 3.8 per cent in areas where the average monthly income was 29,000 dollars, the report said.

The survey looked at 5,393 women diagnosed with breast cancer in the city of 7 million between 2001 and 2011, with overall 12.5 per cent in the advanced stages.

The difference in advanced cancer rates reflected the different screening habits, with half of the wealthier women having regular mammography scans even before diagnosis, while 80 per cent of the poorer women had never had one before they fell ill.

Poor women chose to ignore symptoms due to expensive medical fees, and family and work commitments, the research group's founder Polly Cheung Suk-yee was quoted as saying by the Standard newspaper.

Breast cancer accounts for the highest number of cancer cases in women in Hong Kong and affects around 48 women per 100,000.

This is a relatively low rate compared to Western countries, but the number of cases has doubled over the last 18 years.