Adjuvant Systemic Therapy and Survival after Breast Cancer

To the Editor: Olivotto and colleagues (March 24 issue) 1 attempt to isolate the effects of policies regarding treatment by choosing single years in which other factors that might influence survival, such as screening activity, are thought to be approximately constant. This approach can never be ent...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe New England journal of medicine Vol. 331; no. 6; pp. 402 - 404
Main Authors Sankaranarayanan, R, Black, R J
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Massachusetts Medical Society 11.08.1994
Subjects
Adult
Aged
Breast Neoplasms - drug therapy
Breast Neoplasms - mortality
Chemotherapy, Adjuvant
Female
Humans
Middle Aged
Scotland - epidemiology
Survival Rate
Scotland
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Summary:To the Editor: Olivotto and colleagues (March 24 issue) 1 attempt to isolate the effects of policies regarding treatment by choosing single years in which other factors that might influence survival, such as screening activity, are thought to be approximately constant. This approach can never be entirely satisfactory, since survival rates are the products of complex processes involving the quality of data (the completeness of registration, the accuracy of recorded diagnoses, changes in the classification of tumors, and the completeness of follow-up), statistical artifacts (lead-time bias), host factors (improved general health and greater public awareness of cancer), and health care factors . . .
Bibliography:SourceType-Other Sources-1
content type line 63
ObjectType-Correspondence-1
ObjectType-Commentary-2
ISSN:0028-4793
1533-4406
DOI:10.1056/NEJM199408113310615