Worldwide population-based age-standardized five-year breast cancer survival estimates for the period 2017-2021

The World Health Organization (WHO) Global Breast Cancer Initiative aims to attain meaningful breast cancer mortality reductions by 2040. So far, however, data on cancer survival remain limited in low- and middle-income countries. The WHO estimated population-based age-standardized 5-year net survival for women diagnosed with breast cancer between 2017 and 2021 across all 194 member states, providing a global benchmark for monitoring breast cancer outcomes. Median 5-year net survival varied widely across WHO regions during 2017-2021: 39.1% (95% UI 34.1-44.7) in the African Region, 61.0% (51.4-69.8) in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, 66.3% (57.7-73.7) in the South-East Asia Region, 81.1% (78.6-83.5) in the Western Pacific Region, 84.0% (82.8-85.1) in the European Region, and 88.5% (86.7-90.1) in the Region of the Americas. The authors conclude that persisting disparities in survival reflect profound global inequities; sustaine initiatives to narrow gaps in access to diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer are crucial to strengthening health systems.