Showing papers on "Breast cancer published in 1989"
TL;DR: To assist in medical counseling, a method to estimate the chance that a woman with given age and risk factors will develop breast cancer over a specified interval is presented and individualized breast cancer probabilities are calculated.
Abstract: To assist in medical counseling, we present a method to estimate the chance that a woman with given age and risk factors will develop breast cancer over a specified interval. The risk factors used were age at menarche, age at first live birth, number of previous biopsies, and number of first-degree relatives with breast cancer. A model of relative risks for various combinations of these factors was developed from case-control data from the Breast Cancer Detection Demonstration Project (BCDDP). The model allowed for the fact that relative risks associated with previous breast biopsies were smaller for women aged 50 or more than for younger women. Thus, the proportional hazards models for those under age 50 and for those of age 50 or more. The baseline age-specific hazard rate, which is the rate for a patient without identified risk factors, is computed as the product of the observed age-specific composite hazard rate times the quantity 1 minus the attributable risk. We calculated individualized breast cancer probabilities from information on relative risks and the baseline hazard rate. These calculations take competing risks and the interval of risk into account. Our data were derived from women who participated in the BCDDP and who tended to return for periodic examinations. For this reason, the risk projections given are probably most reliable for counseling women who plan to be examined about once a year.
3,080 citations
TL;DR: The results of the analyses suggest that disease progression to distant sites does not occur exclusively via the axillary lymph nodes, but rather that lymph node status serves as an indicator of the tumor's ability to spread.
Abstract: Two of the most important prognostic indicators for breast cancer are tumor size and extent of axillary lymph node involvement. Data on 24,740 cases recorded in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program of the National Cancer Institute were used to evaluate the breast cancer survival experience in a representative sample of women from the United States. Actuarial (life table) methods were used to investigate the 5-year relative survival rates in cases with known operative/pathologic axillary lymph node status and primary tumor diameter. Survival rates varied from 45.5% for tumor diameters equal to or greater than 5 cm with positive axillary nodes to 96.3% for tumors less than 2 cm and with no involved nodes. The relation between tumor size and lymph node status was investigated in detail. Tumor diameter and lymph node status were found to act as independent but additive prognostic indicators. As tumor size increased, survival decreased regardless of lymph node status; and as lymph node involvement increased, survival status also decreased regardless of tumor size. A linear relation was found between tumor diameter and the percent of cases with positive lymph node involvement. The results of our analyses suggest that disease progression to distant sites does not occur exclusively via the axillary lymph nodes, but rather that lymph node status serves as an indicator of the tumor's ability to spread.
2,088 citations
TL;DR: The observations through eight years are consistent with the findings at five years and that these new findings continue to support the use of lumpectomy in patients with Stage I or II breast cancer, and it is concluded that irradiation reduces the probability of local recurrence of tumor in patients treated with Lumpectomy.
Abstract: In 1985 we presented results of a randomized trial involving 1843 women followed for five years that indicated that segmental breast resection (lumpectomy) followed by breast irradiation is appropriate therapy for patients with Stage I or II breast cancer (tumor size, less than or equal to 4 cm), provided that the margins of the resected specimens are free of tumor. Women with positive axillary nodes received adjuvant chemotherapy. Lumpectomy followed by irradiation resulted in a five-year survival rate of 85 percent, as compared with 76 percent for total mastectomy, a rate of survival free of distant disease of 76 percent, as compared with 72 percent, and a disease-free survival rate of 72 percent, as compared with 66 percent. In the current study, we have extended our observations through eight years of follow-up. Ninety percent of the women treated with breast irradiation after lumpectomy remained free of ipsilateral breast tumor, as compared with 61 percent of those not treated with irradiation after lumpectomy (P less than 0.001). Among patients with positive axillary nodes, only 6 percent of those treated with radiation and adjuvant chemotherapy had a recurrence of tumor in the ipsilateral breast. Lumpectomy with or without irradiation of the breast resulted in rates of disease-free survival (58 +/- 2.6 percent), distant-disease-free survival (65 +/- 2.6 percent), and overall survival (71 +/- 2.6 percent) that were not significantly different from those observed after total mastectomy (54 +/- 2.4 percent, 62 +/- 2.3 percent, and 71 +/- 2.4 percent, respectively). There was no significant difference in the rates of distant-disease-free survival (P = 0.2) or survival (P = 0.3) among the women who underwent lumpectomy (with or without irradiation), despite the greater incidence of recurrence of tumor in the ipsilateral breast in those who received no radiation. We conclude that our observations through eight years are consistent with the findings at five years and that these new findings continue to support the use of lumpectomy in patients with Stage I or II breast cancer. We also conclude that irradiation reduces the probability of local recurrence of tumor in patients treated with lumpectomy.
1,544 citations
TL;DR: Tamoxifen significantly reduced the rate of treatment failure at local and distant sites, tumors in the opposite breast, and the incidence of tumor recurrence after lumpectomy and breast irradiation and was attained with a low incidence of clinically appreciable toxic effects.
Abstract: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of postoperative therapy with tamoxifen (10 mg twice a day) in 2644 patients with breast cancer, histologically negative axillary nodes, and estrogen-receptor-positive (greater than or equal to 10 fmol) tumors. No survival advantage was observed during four years of follow-up (92 percent for placebo vs. 93 percent for tamoxifen; P = 0.3). There was a significant prolongation of disease-free survival among women treated with tamoxifen, as compared with those receiving placebo (83 percent vs. 77 percent; P less than 0.00001). This advantage was observed in both the patients less than or equal to 49 years old (P = 0.0005) and those greater than or equal to 50 (P = 0.0008), particularly in the former, among whom the rate of treatment failure was reduced by 44 percent. Multivariate analysis indicated that all subgroups of patients benefited. Tamoxifen significantly reduced the rate of treatment failure at local and distant sites, tumors in the opposite breast, and the incidence of tumor recurrence after lumpectomy and breast irradiation. The benefit was attained with a low incidence of clinically appreciable toxic effects. The magnitude of the improvement obtained does not preclude the need for future trials in which patients given tamoxifen could serve as the control group in an evaluation of potentially better therapies. Tamoxifen treatment is justified in patients who meet the eligibility criteria of the present study and who refuse to participate in those trials. Since patients with tumors too small for conventional analysis of estrogen-receptor and progesterone-receptor concentrations were not eligible for this study, no information is available to indicate that such patients should receive tamoxifen.
1,421 citations
TL;DR: The results of the analyses suggest that disease progression to distant sites does not occur exclusively via the axillary lymph nodes, but rather that lymph node status serves as an indicator of the tumor's ability to spread.
Abstract: Two of the most important prognostic indicators for breast cancer are tumor size and extent of axillary lymph node involvement. Data on 24,740 cases recorded in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program of the National Cancer Institute were used to evaluate the breast cancer survival experience in a representative sample of women from the United States. Actuarial (life table) methods were used to investigate the 5-year relative survival rates in cases with known operative/pathologic axillary lymph node status and primary tumor diameter. Survival rates varied from 45.5% for tumor diameters equal to or greater than 5 cm with positive axillary nodes to 96.3% for tumors less than 2 cm and with no involved nodes. The relation between tumor size and lymph node status was investigated in detail. Tumor diameter and lymph node status were found to act as independent but additive prognostic indicators. As tumor size increased, survival decreased regardless of lymph node status; and as lymph node involvement increased, survival status also decreased regardless of tumor size. A linear relation was found between tumor diameter and the percent of cases with positive lymph node involvement. The results of our analyses suggest that disease progression to distant sites does not occur exclusively via the axillary lymph nodes, but rather that lymph node status serves as an indicator of the tumor's ability to spread.
960 citations
TL;DR: This work used population-based data to estimate a woman's lifetime risk of suffering a hip, Colles', or vertebral fracture and her risk of dying of coronary heart disease.
Abstract: • Lifetime risk is a useful way to estimate and compare the risk of various conditions. Hip fractures, Colles' fractures, and coronary heart disease, and breast and endometrial cancers are important conditions in postmenopausal women that might be influenced by the use of hormone replacement therapy. We used population-based data to estimate a woman's lifetime risk of suffering a hip, Colles', or vertebral fracture and her risk of dying of coronary heart disease. A 50-year-old white woman has a 16% risk of suffering a hip fracture, a 15% risk of suffering a Colles' fracture, and a 32% risk of suffering a vertebral fracture during her remaining lifetime. These risks exceed her risk of developing breast or endometrial cancer. She has a 31% risk of dying of coronary heart disease, which is about 10 times greater than her risk of dying of hip fractures or breast cancer. These lifetime risks provide a useful description of the comparative risks of conditions that might be influenced by postmenopausal hormone therapy. ( Arch Intern Med. 1989;149:2445-2448)
675 citations
TL;DR: In this cohort, long-term perimenopausal treatment with estrogens (or at least estradiol compounds) seems to be associated with a slightly increased risk of breast cancer, which is not prevented and may even be increased by the addition of progestins.
Abstract: To examine the risk of breast cancer after non-contraceptive treatment with estrogen, we conducted a prospective study of 23,244 women 35 years of age or older who had had estrogen prescriptions filled in the Uppsala region of Sweden. During the follow-up period (mean, 5.7 years) breast cancer developed in 253 women. Compared with other women in the same region, the women in the estrogen cohort had an overall relative risk of breast cancer of 1.1 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.0 to 1.3). The relative risk increased with the duration of estrogen treatment (P = 0.002), reaching 1.7 after nine years (95 percent confidence interval, 1.1 to 2.7). Estradiol (used in 56 percent of the treatment periods in the cohort) was associated with a 1.8-fold increase in risk after more than six years of treatment (95 percent confidence interval, 0.7 to 4.6). No increase in risk was found after the use of conjugated estrogens (used in 22 percent of the treatment periods) or other types, mainly estriols (used in...
582 citations
TL;DR: Multivariate analyses in patients with node-negative breast cancer showed that the HER-2/neu protein is a significant independent predictor of both the disease-free and the overall survival in node-positive breast cancer, even when other prognostic factors are considered.
Abstract: Amplification of the HER-2/neu oncogene was recently reported to predict poor clinical outcome in node-positive breast cancer patients. Since expression of the oncogene as its protein product might be even more closely related than gene amplification to disease progression, we have now examined levels of the HER-2/neu oncogene protein for its prognostic potential in both node-positive and node-negative breast cancer. Using Western blot analysis, levels of this protein were determined in 728 primary human breast tumor specimens. We examined relationships between this protein and other established markers of prognosis, as well as clinical outcome. In node-negative patients (n = 378), the HER-2/neu protein failed to predict disease outcome. However, in node-positive patients (n = 350), those patients with higher HER-2/neu protein had statistically shorter disease-free (P = .0014) and overall survival (P less than .0001) than patients with lower levels of the protein. Higher HER-2/neu protein was found in tum...
562 citations
TL;DR: It is concluded that DNA flow-cytometric measurements of ploidy and S-phase fraction can be performed on frozen specimens of tumors and are potentially important predictors of disease-free and overall survival in patients with node-negative breast cancer.
Abstract: More accurate prediction of the prognosis in women with node-negative breast cancer may improve physicians' ability to identify the patients most likely to benefit from systematic adjuvant therapy. With this in mind, we performed DNA flow-cytometric measurements of ploidy and the fraction of cells in the synthesis phase of the cell cycle (S-phase fraction) on 395 specimens of node-negative breast cancer from our bank of frozen tumors, using the aliquots of pulverized frozen tissue from steroid-receptor assays. The median duration of follow-up in patients still alive at the time of analysis was 59 months. Thirty-two percent of the 345 specimens that could be evaluated were diploid, and 68 percent were aneuploid. The probability of disease-free survival at five years was 88 +/- 3 percent in patients with diploid tumors and 74 +/- 3 percent in those with aneuploid tumors (P = 0.02). The S-phase fraction was not a significant additional predictor of disease-free survival in patients with aneuploid tumors. However, the probability of disease-free survival in patients with diploid tumors and low S-phase fractions was 90 +/- 3 percent at five years, as compared with 70 +/- 13 percent in those with diploid tumors and high S-phase fractions (P = 0.007). Similar differences in overall survival were noted. We conclude that DNA flow-cytometric measurements of ploidy and S-phase fraction can be performed on frozen specimens of tumors and are potentially important predictors of disease-free and overall survival in patients with node-negative breast cancer.
549 citations
TL;DR: A randomized trial was conducted at the Institut Gustave-Roussy between 1972 and 1980 comparing tumorectomy and breast irradiation with modifiedradical mastectomy with modified radical mastectomy, with no significant differences between the two treatment groups.
536 citations
TL;DR: This study confirms the relationship between young age and low breast control rates, and demonstrates the importance of adequate initial surgical procedures, and emphasizes the adverse prognosis of early breast recurrences as compared to the relatively favorable outcome of late recurrence.
Abstract: Between 1960 and 1980, 518 patients with T1, T2, N0, N1a, invasive breast cancer were treated by limited surgery at Institute Curie with (183 patients) or without (335 patients) axillary node dissection, followed by radiation therapy to breast and nodes. Median follow-up was 8.6 years (1.3 to 25 years). Fifty-six breast recurrences occurred, including 49 breast recurrences alone, 3 simultaneous breast and node recurrences, and 4 simultaneous breast recurrences and metastasis. Five-year, 10-year, and 15-year actuarial risks of breast recurrences were 7 +/- 1%, 11 +/- 1.5%, and 18 +/- 3%, respectively. Univariate analysis of 14 clinical and pathological prognostic factors revealed that local control in breast was significantly impaired by young age, premenopausal status, inadequate gross surgical excision, extensive ductal in situ component, and endolymphatic extension. On multivariate analysis with a Cox regression model, the most important contributors to local breast control in order of importance were age (p less than 10(-4), relative risk = 2.44), adequacy of surgery (p = 0.003, relative risk = 2.78), and endolymphatic extension (p = 0.03, relative risk = 2.98). The 5-year actuarial survival rate following breast recurrence was 73%, and was significantly worse when breast recurrence occurred in the first 3 years after treatment: 44% versus 87%, respectively (p less than 0.01). This study confirms the relationship between young age and low breast control rates, and demonstrates the importance of adequate initial surgical procedures. It emphasizes the adverse prognosis of early breast recurrences as compared to the relatively favorable outcome of late recurrences.
TL;DR: Findings suggest that although IGF-I is not produced by breast epithelial cells it may function as either a paracrine stimulator of epithel cells or an autocrinestimulator of stromal cells.
Abstract: Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) activity has been reported to be produced by several human cancers Identification of RNAs transcribed from the IGF-I gene has been complicated by the detection of multiple hybridizing bands on Northern analysis To determine if any of these RNAs are transcribed from the IGF-I gene, we have used a sensitive and specific ribonuclease (RNAse) protection assay for IGF-I We have also studied the breast cancer tissue expression of IGF-I using in situ hybridization histochemistry We have found no IGF-I mRNA in breast (zero of 11) or colon cancer (zero of 9) cell lines; both of these tumors have been previously reported to express IGF-I mRNA However, three of three neuroepithelioma and one of two Ewing's sarcoma cell lines express IGF-I mRNA; therefore, in these tumors IGF-I may be an autocrine growth factor In contrast to breast cancer cell lines, RNA extracted from breast tissues has easily detectable IGF-I mRNA In situ hybridizations show that IGF-I mRNA is expressed
TL;DR: Mammary recurrences were studied in 1593 patients with Stage I and II breast cancer treated by macroscopically complete tumor excision followed by megavoltage radiotherapy, including a boost to the tumor bed, showing the protracted time course and more favorable prognosis associated with the former.
Abstract: Mammary recurrences were studied in 1593 patients with Stage I and II breast cancer treated by macroscopically complete tumor excision followed by megavoltage radiotherapy, including a boost to the tumor bed (mean dose, 78 Gy). The actuarial freedom from mammary recurrence was 93% at 5, 86% at 10, 82% at 15, and 80% at 20 years. Seventy-nine percent of the recurrences were in the vicinity of the tumor bed, but with increasing time interval, an increasing percentage of recurrences was located elsewhere in the breast. A majority of recurrences after 10 years could be considered new tumors. Only ten of 181 patients with recurrence had prior or concomitant distant metastases, and 159 of 171 isolated mammary recurrences (93%) were operable. Uncorrected overall survival after operable recurrence was 69% at 5 and 57% at 10 years. Prognosis after late recurrence (after 5 years) was favorable (84% 5-year survival). Operable early recurrences retained a favorable prognosis if smaller than 2 cm and confined to the breast (74% 5-year survival). Disease-free interval and histologic grade also appeared to be important prognostic factors after early recurrence. Survival after recurrence did not depend upon the type of salvage operation. Locoregional control was 88% at 5 years after salvage mastectomy and 64% after breast-conserving salvage procedures. The role of adjuvant systemic therapy at time of local recurrence requires additional study. This experience illustrates the important differences between mammary failure and chest wall recurrence after mastectomy, in particular the protracted time course and more favorable prognosis associated with the former.
TL;DR: The mortality from breast cancer in a cohort of 31,710 women who had been treated for tuberculosis at Canadian sanatoriums between 1930 and 1952 is examined and it is concluded that even a small benefit to women of screening mammography would outweigh any possible risk of radiation-induced breast cancer.
Abstract: The increasing use of mammography to screen asymptomatic women makes it important to know the risk of breast cancer associated with exposure to low levels of ionizing radiation. We examined the mortality from breast cancer in a cohort of 31,710 women who had been treated for tuberculosis at Canadian sanatoriums between 1930 and 1952. A substantial proportion (26.4 percent) had received radiation doses to the breast of 10 cGy or more from repeated fluoroscopic examinations during therapeutic Pneumothoraxes. Women exposed to ≥ cGy of radiation had a relative risk of death from breast cancer of 1.36, as compared with those exposed to less than 10 cGy (95 percent confidence interval, 1.11 to 1.67; P = 0.001). The data were most consistent with a linear dose–response relation. The risk was greatest among women who had been exposed to radiation when they were between 10 and 14 years of age; they had a relative risk of 4.5 per gray, and an additive risk of 6.1 per 104 person-years per gray. With increas...
TL;DR: The results, although promising, do not obviate the need for additional trials to evaluate potentially better regimens of therapy, but they do suggest that sequential methotrexate-fluorouracil should be used in the control arm in such studies.
Abstract: We evaluated the postoperative use of sequential methotrexate and fluorouracil followed by leucovorin in 679 patients with primary breast cancer, histologically negative axillary nodes, and estrogen-receptor–negative (<10 fmol) tumors. No survival advantage was observed with this therapy as compared with no postoperative therapy during four years of follow-up (87 percent vs. 86 percent; P = 0.8). However, there was a significant prolongation of diseasefree survival among women who received this therapy as compared with those who did not (80 percent vs. 71 percent; P = 0.003). An advantage was observed in both the patients ≤ 49 years old and those ≥50. At four years, treatment failure was reduced by 24 percent in the younger group and by 50 percent in the older group. The rates of both local and regional and distant metastases were decreased. These benefits, achieved without the use of an alkylating agent, were associated with tolerable side effects. Multivariate analysis testing for potential int...
TL;DR: Based on the inability to identify factors which would predict for a localized recurrence pathologically, mastectomy is recommended as the preferred surgical treatment for an isolated breast recurrence and adjuvant chemotherapy may be beneficial in patients with an unfavorable prognosis.
Abstract: Between 1978 and 1986, 1030 women with clinical Stage I or II breast cancer underwent excisional biopsy, axillary dissection (948 patients), and definitive irradiation. Sixty-five patients developed a recurrence in the treated breast, 9 of which were associated with simultaneous (8) or antecedent (1) distant metastases. Detection was by mammography alone in 29%, physical exam alone in 50%, and both in 21%. The median interval to recurrence was 34 months. Overall, 65% of the recurrences were in the vicinity of the original tumor; however, as the interval to recurrence increased, the percentage of operable recurrences in a separate quadrant increased. For those recurring after 5 years, 54% were in a separate quadrant. Ninety-five percent of the recurrences unassociated with distant metastases were operable and pathology revealed non-invasive cancer only in 10%. Fifty-two patients underwent salvage mastectomy. Thirteen patients had no residual tumor following excisional biopsy at the time of mastectomy. None of the following factors were predictive for no residual tumor: initial age, method of detection, interval to recurrence, location of recurrence, or histology. Local-regional control following mastectomy was 95%. The 5-year actuarial overall and disease-free survivals for salvage mastectomy patients were 84% and 59%, respectively. The only significant prognostic factor for survival was the initial clinical tumor size, which was related to the extent of the recurrence. Based on the inability to identify factors which would predict for a localized recurrence pathologically, we recommend mastectomy as the preferred surgical treatment for an isolated breast recurrence. Adjuvant chemotherapy may be beneficial in patients with an unfavorable prognosis.
TL;DR: Results show an increasingly significant deficit in deaths from breast cancer among the 77,092 women invited to screening relative to the 56,000 not invited, with no significant difference between the effects of screening in the two counties, and results remain the same when adjusted for age.
Abstract: The Swedish two county trial of breast cancer screening is now in its tenth year. This paper presents detailed results on mortality from breast cancer and from all other causes, and on the population denominators at risk for each of the first 8 years of follow up, for each county separately. These data represent a two year update on the last major report. Results show an increasingly significant deficit in deaths from breast cancer among the 77,092 women invited to screening relative to the 56,000 not invited (RR = 0.68, p = 0.002), with no significant difference between the effects of screening in the two counties (p = 0.5). These results remain the same when adjusted for age. Analysis of all cause deaths shows no significant effect of screening (p = 0.5), nor was there any significant effect of screening on deaths from all causes other than breast cancer (p = 0.9). The rates of deaths from intercurrent illness in breast cancer cases were almost identical in the group invited to screening and the group not invited (p = 0.7). This result remained the same when adjusted for age. We calculate that in the age group 50-69 at entry, one breast cancer death was prevented per 4000 woman/years, per 1460 mammographic examinations, per 13.5 biopsies, and per 7.4 breast cancers detected.
TL;DR: Adjuvant chemotherapy with six cycles of cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, fluorouracil, and prednisone is effective in improving three-year disease-free survival among high-risk patients with axillary-node-negative, operable breast cancer.
Abstract: We randomly assigned 536 women who had undergone either a modified radical mastectomy or a total mastectomy with low axillary-node dissection for potentially curable breast carcinoma to re...
TL;DR: Cathepsin D assay may prove particularly useful in identifying women who, though without lymph node involvement at presentation, are at high risk of metastatic disease.
TL;DR: Quality-adjusted survival analysis is recommended in assessing costs and benefits of toxic adjuvant therapy and supports the use of chemoendocrine therapy in postmenopausal node-positive patients for a wide range of relative values assigned to periods with symptoms and toxicity.
Abstract: The use of adjuvant chemotherapy for postmenopausal patients with early breast cancer remains controversial because the potential benefits in terms of prolongation of disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) must be balanced against the toxicity of treatment. Following mastectomy, 463 evaluable postmenopausal women with node-positive breast cancer were randomized to receive either chemoendocrine therapy for 1 year, or endocrine therapy alone for 1 year, or no adjuvant therapy (Ludwig Trial III). At 7-years median follow-up, OS was longer for the chemoendocrine-treated patients compared with controls (P = .04) and compared with the adjuvant endocrine therapy-alone group (P = .08). In order to balance this therapeutic advantage against the toxic effects of treatment, OS time was divided into time with toxicity (TOX), time without symptoms and toxicity (TWiST), and time after systemic relapse (REL). TOX and REL were weighted by coefficients of utility relative to TWiST and the results added to give a period of quality-adjusted survival (Q-TWiST). Benefits measured by Q-TWiST generally favored chemoendocrine therapy. For example, if TOX and REL were both given utility coefficients of 0.5 relative to 1.0 for TWiST, then by 7 years the average Q-TWiST for chemoendocrine therapy was 6.7 months longer than for no-adjuvant therapy (P = .05) and 4.1 months longer than for endocrine therapy alone (P = .20). Quality-adjusted survival analysis is recommended in assessing costs and benefits of toxic adjuvant therapy. In this example, it supports the use of chemoendocrine therapy in postmenopausal node-positive patients for a wide range of relative values assigned to periods with symptoms and toxicity.
TL;DR: Results do not support the supposed preeminent importance of age at first full-term pregnancy among the reproductive determinants of breast carcinogenesis, and may have important implications for elucidating hormonal influences on breast cancer and for projecting future trends in the disease.
TL;DR: These studies suggest that the levels of 1.25(OH)2D occurring in vivo may exert an inhibitory effect on receptor-positive tumours and the role of vitamin D metabolites in the treatment of human malignant disease.
TL;DR: Elderly women do as well as younger patients in survival time for localized and regional stages of breast cancer; for distant disease, they fare worse; results emphasize the need to focus on elderly women for screening, early detection, diagnostic evaluation, and therapy.
Abstract: Over 43% of the newly diagnosed breast cancers in the US occur in women 65 years or older. Yet little attention is devoted to the age-associated aspects of this malignancy. This study uses data on more than 125,000 women diagnosed from 1973 to 1984 to examine the influence of advancing age on breast cancer. The National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program provides information on disease stage, surgery, histologic type, and survival time to compare and contrast women in all age groups. Women who present initially with distant disease are more likely to be elderly. Certain surgical procedures are used less frequently for older women. No unusual age variations in histologic features are noted. Elderly women do as well as younger patients in survival time for localized and regional stages of breast cancer; for distant disease, they fare worse. Results emphasize the need to focus on elderly women for screening, early detection, diagnostic evaluation, and therapy.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show that screening for breast cancer reduces mortality in women older than 50 years and suggestive but inconsistent evidence that screening is effective in reducing long-term mortality for women younger than 50.
Abstract: There is very good evidence that screening for breast cancer reduces mortality in women older than 50 years and suggestive but inconsistent evidence that screening is effective in reducing long-term mortality in women younger than 50 years. The probability that an average-risk woman will be diagnosed with breast cancer in the coming 10 years is about 130 in 10,000 for a 40-year-old woman, 230 in 10,000 for a 55-year-old woman, and 280 in 10,000 for a 65-year-old woman. The chance of dying from breast cancer diagnosed in the coming 10 years is about 90 in 10,000, 123 in 10,000, and 120 in 10,000 for women age 40, 55, and 65, respectively. Mathematical models based on data from controlled trials of screening programs indicate that screening annually for 10 years with breast physical examination will decrease the probability of death from breast cancer by about 25 in 10,000 for women in the three age groups and increase life expectancy by about 20 days. Adding annual mammography will decrease the probability of death from breast cancer an additional 25 in 10,000 and increase life expectancy an additional 20 days. The actual reductions in mortality observed in controlled trials are slightly lower. If women are screened annually for 10 years with breast physical examination and mammography, the chance for a false-positive result over the 10-year period is approximately 2500 in 10,000. On the population level, if 25% of women age 40 to 75 are screened annually with both examinations, deaths from breast cancer would be decreased by about 4000 in the year 2000. Net annual costs would be approximately $1.3 billion. Recommending a screening strategy requires weighing the benefits against the risks and costs.
TL;DR: Results show that GCDFP-15 is a specific marker for breast cancer and is superior to ALA in this respect.
TL;DR: In all age‐groups the tallest women were found to have the highest risk for both morbidity and mortality, but it was a risk factor only in the post‐menopausal age‐ groups in the case of morbidity.
Abstract: The height and weight of 570,000 Norwegian women, aged 30-69 years, were measured and the subjects were then followed up for 6-18 years with regard to breast cancer morbidity and mortality. They were arranged in 5-year age-groups. In all age-groups the tallest women were found to have the highest risk for both morbidity and mortality. Overweight was a risk factor for breast cancer mortality in all age-groups, but it was a risk factor only in the post-menopausal age-groups in the case of morbidity. It appeared to protect against breast cancer in the pre-menopausal age-group. Stages I and II—IV follow-up endpoints show negative and positive associations, respectively, with overweight. It is not likely that this can be fully explained by earlier detection of cancer among slim women.
TL;DR: Data from Ki67 immunostaining are consistent with the concept of the Ki67 antibody detecting an antigen that is closely related to cell proliferation and thus provides a clinically useful marker for this important characteristic of the tumour.
Abstract: Ki67 immunostaining has been performed on 136 primary breast cancers and related to various clinical and pathological features of the disease. Staining was most frequently seen in poorly differentiated tumours showing high rates of mitotic activity, but was independent of tumour size, lymph-node status and ER expression. A high level of Ki67 immunostaining was often associated with early recurrence of breast cancer after mastectomy. These data are consistent with the concept of the Ki67 antibody detecting an antigen that is closely related to cell proliferation and thus provides a clinically useful marker for this important characteristic of the tumour.
TL;DR: Excess risk increased with time since exposure and was highest among those followed for more than 30 years, and risk also increased with the number of x rays and with the estimated radiation dose to the breast.
Abstract: Although exposure to ionizing radiation is a recognized risk factor for breast cancer, the potential hazard from low-dose, fractionated exposures during early breast development has not been thoroughly evaluated. Women with scoliosis represent a valuable population for studying this issue because they are exposed to multiple diagnostic x rays during childhood and adolescence, times when the breast may be highly sensitive to the carcinogenic effects of radiation. A study was conducted of 1,030 women with scoliosis who were seen at four Minneapolis area medical facilities between 1935 and 1965. The average age at diagnosis was 12.3 years; 60% of the women had idiopathic scoliosis. Individual x-ray films were counted and the number per patient ranged from 0 to 618 films (mean, 41.5). On average, the x-ray exposures were given over an 8.7-year period. Ninety percent of the women were located, of whom over 92% responded to a mail questionnaire or telephone interview. The average period of observation was 26 years. Overall, 11 cases of breast cancer were reported, compared with six expected (standardized incidence ratio = 1.82, 90% confidence interval = 1.0-3.0). Excess risk increased with time since exposure and was highest among those followed for more than 30 years (standardized incidence ratio = 2.4). Risk also increased with the number of x rays and with the estimated radiation dose to the breast (mean, 13 rad). These data suggest that frequent exposure to low-level diagnostic radiation during childhood or adolescence may increase the risk of breast cancer.