Table 1.
Patients’ background demographic and clinical characteristics at the time of breast cancer diagnosis (n = 280)
| No. of patients | % | |
|---|---|---|
| Age at breast cancer diagnosis | ||
| ≤ 35 | 41 | 14.6 |
| 36–40 | 82 | 29.3 |
| 41–45 | 157 | 56.1 |
| Height- median; range (cm) | 159 (141–175) | |
| Weight- median; range (kg) | 54.6 (39.0–89.0) | |
| BMI at diagnosis (according to HK BMI) | ||
| Underweight (<18.5) | 33 | 11.8 |
| Normal (18.5–22.9) | 155 | 55.4 |
| Overweight (23.0–24.9) | 46 | 16.4 |
| Obese (>25) | 46 | 16.4 |
| 1 or more children born before breast cancer diagnosis | 205 | 73.2 |
| Ever smoking | 10 | 3.6 |
| Ever excessive alcohol intake (> 2 units/day) | 1 | 0.4 |
| Education | ||
| Primary | 47 | 16.9 |
| Secondary | 187 | 67.0 |
| Tertiary | 27 | 9.7 |
| Higher qualification | 18 | 6.5 |
| Employment | ||
| Retired | 3 | 1.1 |
| Unemployed | 105 | 37.5 |
| Full Time | 127 | 45.3 |
| Part Time | 45 | 16.1 |
| Family income | ||
| < HK$5000 | 27 | 9.6 |
| HK$5000–25,000 | 150 | 53.6 |
| HK$25000–50,000 | 83 | 29.6 |
| HK$50,000 | 20 | 7.2 |
| 1st degree relative with breast cancer | 17 | 6.1 |
| T stage | ||
| T1 | 140 | 50.0 |
| T2 | 133 | 47.5 |
| T3 | 7 | 2.5 |
| T4 | 0 | 0 |
| Nodal Status- positive | 114 | 40.7 |
| TNM staging: | ||
| Stage I | 88 | 31.4 |
| Stage II | 165 | 58.9 |
| Stage IIIa | 27 | 9.6 |
| ER positive | 203 | 72.5 |
| PR positive | 187 | 66.8 |
| HER2 over-expression | 47 | 16.8 |
| Breast surgery: | ||
| Lumpectomy | 95 | 33.9 |
| Mastectomy | 185 | 66.1 |
| Axillary lymph node dissection | 276 | 98.6 |
| Received adjuvant radiotherapy | 186 | 66.4 |
| Adjuvant chemotherapy regimen: | ||
| Non-anthracycline and non-taxane containing | 17 | 6.1 |
| Anthracycline-containing | 184 | 65.7 |
| Taxane-containing | 5 | 1.8 |
| Anthracycline- and taxane-containing | 74 | 26.4 |
| Duration of adjuvant chemotherapy >64 days | 191 | 68.2 |
| Received corticosteroid premedication during chemotherapy | 258 | 92.1 |
| Received adjuvant tamoxifen | 214 | 76.4 |
| Received adjuvant trastuzumab | 8 | 2.9 |
| Use of traditional Chinese medicine since diagnosis | 83 | 29.6 |