Does the timing of surgery for breast cancer in relation to the menstrual cycle or geomagnetic activity affect prognoses of premenopausal patients?
We examined the records in 36 breast cancer patients treated between 1990 and 2001, and compared them for relapse-free survival with reference to the phases of menstrual cycle defined by Hrushesky et al. and Senie et al. During the follow-up period, seven patients suffered a relapse and one died of another disease without relapsed breast cancer. The recurrence rate and relapse-free survival were not significantly different with the menstrual timing of surgery. However, patients with early breast cancer operated during the follicular phase and those with advanced breast cancer resected during the luteal phase appeared to show better prognosis than corresponding controls operated during the other phases. On the other hand, the correlation between geomagnetic activity and prognosis of breast cancer was also investigated. High geomagnetic activity during operation significantly affected the prognosis of the disease in an adverse fashion. This adverse influence was more marked in the patients operated during the luteal period. Since the menstrual cycle has no clear relation to the prognosis of breast cancer, the geomagnetic activity might affect them via other pathways than the menstrual cycle.
Department of Surgery, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, 108-108-8639 Tokyo, Japan. ytake@ims.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Y
Y
Takeda
H
H
Yanagie
I
I
Yoshizaki
M
M
Eriguchi
D000328:Adult; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000145:classification / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008280:Magnetics; D008597:Menstrual Cycle / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D017697:Premenopause / Q000502:physiology*; D012008:Recurrence; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome