Prognosis of recurrent breast cancer has improved in last decades

Between 1974 and 2000, women with recurrent breast cancer have experienced a significant improvement in survival, according to a report published in the January 1st issue of Cancer.

Previous reports have shown that overall breast cancer mortality rates have declined in recent years. However, it was unclear if this trend was due to a greater proportion of patients being diagnosed at an earlier, more treatable stage or to actual improvements in treatment. In the current study, Dr. Sharon H. Giordano and colleagues, from M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, assessed the survival outcomes of 834 women who developed recurrent breast cancer between 1974 and 2000.The patients were all initially treated with chemotherapy protocols approved by the review board at the authors’ institution. Based on their recurrence date, the patients were divided into five groups: 1974-1979, 1980-1984, 1985-1989, 1990-1994, and 1995-2000. The median follow-up period after recurrence was 9.3 years. The authors found that survival improved steadily with each more recent recurrence group (p < 0.0001). With each 1-year increase in the recurrence date, the risk of death fell by 1%. Other factors associated with increased survival after recurrence included smaller initial tumor size, lower disease stage, limited nodal involvement, longer disease-free interval, estrogen receptor-positive disease, and nonvisceral dominant site or recurrence. "These findings, although not conclusive, suggest that breast cancer survival has been improving," the researchers state. "We present these data to encourage further research to clarify whether advances in therapy have translated into improvements in survival for women with recurrent breast cancer."(Source: Cancer 2004;100:44-52: Reuters Health: January 13, 2004: Oncolink)