One in four women diagnosed with breast cancer in the 1940s was alive 10 years later, compared with three of four women diagnosed in recent years, based on data gathered at a single institution.
Overall, the 10-year survival rate for all types of breast cancer improved significantly over 60 years, from 25% between 1944 and 1954, to 77% between 1995 and 2004. The improvement stems from earlier disease detection and a multimodal approach to treatment at different stages, said Dr. Aman Buzdar, the study's lead author.
The study's goal was to quantify the steady improvements in breast cancer survival rates over the past 6 decades in patients at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. The survival rates seen at MD Anderson are generalizable to the rates at smaller regional hospitals and community cancer centers, Dr. Buzdar said.
“If patients are appropriately managed, they have a much better chance of surviving breast cancer today than they would have had 30 or 20 or even 10 years ago, because the therapies are constantly evolving and improving,” Dr. Buzdar, professor of medicine and breast medical oncology at the center, said in a written statement. If the approaches used at MD Anderson are applied in the community, similar outcomes can be achieved, he said at the press briefing.
Dr. Buzdar and colleagues reviewed the center's database of approximately 57,000 breast cancer patients seen between 1944 and 2004. The review included 12,809 patients who had their diagnoses established and treatments initiated at MD Anderson.
Ten-year survival rates improved significantly from the 1944-1954 period to the 1995-2004 period: For local breast cancer, the rates rose from 55% to 86% and for regional breast cancer they increased from 16% to 76%. The survival rate for metastatic disease improved from 3% to 22%.
Dr. Buzdar said he had no conflicts.