© 2004 Foundation for Promotion of Cancer Research
Improvement in the Prognosis of Japanese Breast Cancer Patients from 1946 to 2001—an Institutional Review
1 Department of Breast Surgery, 2 Department of Medical Oncology, 3 Department of Radiation Oncology and 4 Department of Breast Pathology, Cancer Institute Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
For reprints and all correspondence: Masataka Yoshimoto, Department of Breast Surgery, Cancer Institute Hospital, Kami-Ikebukuro 1-37-1, Toshima-ku, Tokyo 170-8455, Japan. E-mail: myoshimoto{at}jfcr.or.jp
Received February 21, 2004; accepted May 30, 2004
Background: Breast cancer has emerged as one of the most frequent malignancies among Japanese women; however, the long-term survival of Japanese breast cancer patients is uncertain.
Methods: We analyzed the chronological changes in the clinical and pathological characteristics, treatment procedures and the long-term prognosis of 15 416 Japanese women with 16 217 primary breast cancers treated in the Cancer Institute Hospital in Tokyo between 1946 and 2001.
Results: Our analysis revealed a chronological increase in the mean patient age, postmenopausal patients and non-invasive carcinomas. Operative procedures became less extensive, with approximately 45% of breast cancer patients in 2000–2001 receiving breast-conserving treatment. Radiotherapy to the regional lymph nodes decreased, while postoperative chemotherapy and hormonal treatments have become more frequent. The survival rate has improved steadily during the past 5 decades. The 10-year crude overall survival rate improved from 61% before 1960 to 83% in the 1990s.
Conclusions: The survival rate of Japanese women with breast cancer has dramatically improved during the past 5 decades.
Key Words: breast cancer • chronological change • survival • Japanese