The Increase in Deaths From Breast Cancer in Brazil: An Analysis of a Decade

PURPOSE Analyze the increase in the number of deaths from breast cancer in Brazil between 2012 and 2022. METHODS Descriptive cross-sectional epidemiological study based on secondary data from the Mortality section of the DATASUS platform from 2012 to 2022. The variable analyzed was the number of deaths from breast cancer in the Brazilian population. In addition, data from the National Cancer Institute (INCA) regarding the estimated number of breast cancer cases for 2012 and 2022 was used as a secondary data source. RESULTS In 2012, a total of 13,755 deaths from breast cancer were recorded in Brazil by the SUS (Brazil's public health system). In the subsequent ten years, this number gets more significant. There were 14,394 deaths from this cause in 2013, 14,789 in 2014, 15,600 in 2015, 16,259 in 2016, 16,932 in 2017, 17,770 in 2018, 18,300 in 2019, 18,036 in 2020, 18,365 in 2021 and 19,371 in 2022. Therefore, when comparing directly 2012 and 2022, it reveals a total increase of 134.57% in the number of deaths from breast cancer. Furthermore, according to the National Cancer Institute, the estimated number of cases of breast cancer in 2012 was 52,680, and in 2022 was 66,280, representing a growth of 125,81%. CONCLUSION Notably, there was a considerable increase in breast cancer deaths over the analyzed decade. This increase is related to the change in the women's way of life since they are more concerned about their health today. In the last ten years in Brazil, public health campaigns for breast cancer awareness have grown significantly, encouraging women to be attentive to symptoms by self-touching and to do medical exams regularly. As a result, the number of diagnoses increased, as well as the number of deaths, not necessarily meaning that more women have breast cancer compared to previous years, but more women are having the diagnosis and being aware that they have the disease.