Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Lifestyle Diseases and Natural Medicine (ICOLIFEMED 2025)

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Understanding Breast Cancer Survival Differences in Malaysia through Ethnic Variations within Lifestyle and Sociocultural Contexts

Authors
Siti Nurhafizah Saharudin1, Suhaily Mohd Hairon1, *, Siti Norbayah Yusof2
1Department of Community Medicine, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 16150, Kelantan, Malaysia
2Department of National Cancer Registry, National Cancer Institute, Ministry of Health Malaysia, 62250, W.P. Putrajaya, Malaysia
*Corresponding author. Email: suhailymh@usm.my
Corresponding Author
Suhaily Mohd Hairon
Available Online 2 January 2026.
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6463-962-9_36How to use a DOI?
Keywords
breast cancer; survival; ethnic variation; lifestyle risk; Malaysia
Abstract

Breast cancer survival varies across populations, and in Malaysia’s multi-ethnic setting, differences between groups have been consistently observed. This retrospective cohort study examined ethnic variations in survival among Malaysian women with breast cancer diagnosed between 2015–2019, using data from the Malaysian National Cancer Registry. Kaplan–Meier methods were used to compare survival probabilities, and differences were assessed using log-rank test. Among 26,867 eligible cases, the overall five-year observed survival was 57.5%. Ethnic variations were evident, with Chinese and Indian women demonstrated higher survival rates (64.7% and 59.8% respectively) compared to Malay women (52.7%) (log-rank p<0.001). These differences in outcomes mirror previous findings and have persisted despite advances in diagnostics and treatment availability, suggesting that constant influences beyond biomedical care are at play. Although ethnicity itself is a non-modifiable characteristic, it may reflect underlying lifestyle patterns, cultural practices, and healthcare-related factors that shape survival outcomes. Recognizing these contexts is essential for developing targeted and culturally sensitive public health strategies aimed at improving equity in breast cancer outcomes.

Copyright
© 2025 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Lifestyle Diseases and Natural Medicine (ICOLIFEMED 2025)
Series
Advances in Health Sciences Research
Publication Date
2 January 2026
ISBN
978-94-6463-962-9
ISSN
2468-5739
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6463-962-9_36How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2025 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - Siti Nurhafizah Saharudin
AU  - Suhaily Mohd Hairon
AU  - Siti Norbayah Yusof
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/01/02
TI  - Understanding Breast Cancer Survival Differences in Malaysia through Ethnic Variations within Lifestyle and Sociocultural Contexts
BT  - Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Lifestyle Diseases and Natural Medicine (ICOLIFEMED 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 381
EP  - 388
SN  - 2468-5739
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-962-9_36
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-962-9_36
ID  - Saharudin2026
ER  -