For the first time the incidence and mortality of breast cancer were estimated in French Guiana, an overseas French Territory of South America. A certified cancer registry collected exhaustive data on breast cancer between 2003 and 2005. The age-standardized rate of breast cancer was 47.1 per 100 000 women. The age-standardized death rate was 11.0 per 100 000 women. Although the standardized incidence and death rates were lower than in metropolitan France and South America, the ratio between incidence and mortality showed that the prognosis of breast cancer in French Guiana was worse than in metropolitan France (23 deaths per 100 incident cases versus 17 deaths per 100 incident cases, respectively). The demographics of French Guiana, suggests that mass organized screening may benefit from lowering the age of its target population.
Keywords: Breast cancer; Cancer in South America; Cancer incidence; French Guiana Registry.