Objective: The objective of this study was to examine whether and to what extent the outcome of treatment for lymph-node positive breast cancer patients improved between the periods 1965-75 and 1976-86.
Methods: The subjects were 1595 patients with breast cancer positive for lymph node metastasis who were treated at the National Cancer Center Hospital between 1965 and 1986. In order to analyze background factors and treatment outcome, we classified the patients into four groups stratified by the time of initial surgery (1965-75/1976-86) and menopausal status (premenopause/postmenopause).
Results: With respect to the clinicopathological background factors, significant changes between the periods 1965-75 and 1976-86 were more frequent use of modified radical mastectomy and postoperative adjuvant chemoendocrine therapy and less frequent use of postoperative radiotherapy in both pre- and postmenopausal patients. The 10-year disease-free and overall survival rates improved by approximately 15-20% between 1965-75 and 1976-86 in this group of patients, regardless of menopausal status.
Conclusion: The patients with node-positive disease treated at our hospital showed an increase in both disease-free and overall survival from 1965 to 1986.