A long-term survival pattern for breast cancer treated in a single institution

• Published in: Indian journal of cancer Vol. 48; no. 2; p. 187
• Main Authors: Gokce, T, Karadogan, I, Akçay, C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: India Medknow Publications on behalf of Indian Cancer Society 01.04.2011; Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Breast cancer; Breast carcinoma; Breast Neoplasms - metabolism; Breast Neoplasms - mortality; Breast Neoplasms - therapy; Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast - metabolism; Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast - mortality; Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast - therapy; Carcinoma, Lobular - metabolism; Carcinoma, Lobular - mortality; Carcinoma, Lobular - therapy; Care and treatment; chemotherapy; Estrogen; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Middle Aged; overall survival; Patient outcomes; Progesterone; Prognosis; radiotherapy; Receptor, ErbB-2 - metabolism; Receptors; Receptors, Estrogen - metabolism; Receptors, Progesterone - metabolism; Retrospective Studies; Survival Rate; Time Factors; Treatment Outcome; Young Adult; Turkey
• ISSN: 0019-509X; 1998-4774
• DOI: 10.4103/0019-509X.82884

Aim: This paper presents a 14-year retrospective study evaluating the survival rates and prognostic factors of breast carcinoma patients treated in private treatment center in the west coast of Turkey. Materials and Methods: The survival rates of breast cancer patients (n = 1746) who have been treated from 1995 until 2008 were analyzed. The clinical data include age, menopausal stage, oestrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) receptor status, and C-erbB-2 status as well as histopathological evaluation. AJCC (2002) was used for clinical tumor staging. Survival rates were computed using standard Kaplan-Meier methods, and the difference in survival curves was analyzed with the log-rank test. Results: The 14-year overall survival, disease-free survival, local failure-free survival, and distant failure-free survival rates were 77%, 95%, 77%, and 94%, respectively. Early-stage patients had higher overall survival rates compared to advanced-stage patients (stage IIIb and IIIc, AJCC 2002), and early-stage patients had higher survival rates than advanced-stage patients for disease-free survival, local failure-free survival, and distant failure-free survival. The risk for cancer development increases significantly for advanced-stage patients with positive ER and PR receptor as well as C-erbB-2 receptor. Conclusions: The incidence of breast cancer in Turkey is smaller compared to other European countries. Low advanced-stage patient numbers compared to high early-stage patient numbers; and very high median survival times could possibly be the result of the improvement of detection and treatment of breast cancer over the years.