Analysis of prognostic factors and treatment modality changes in breast cancer: a single institution study in Korea.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the effects of new breast cancer treatments and to provide a baseline for monitoring the development of breast cancer in Korean women, we conducted an analysis at our institution to determine long-term clinicopathological features, survival rates, and prognostic factors.


METHODS
This study retrospectively analyzed 2,403 patients between Sep 1994 and Dec 2002, who underwent breast cancer surgery at Samsung Medical Center in Korea. Demographic data, pathologic records and surgical records were collected.


RESULTS
After a median follow-up duration of 121.9 (range: 2-158.1) months, the 5-year disease free survival (DFS) was 82.8% and the 10-year DFS was 74.7%. The 5-year and 10-year overall survival (OS) rates were 89.4% and 82.9%, respectively. Using multivariate analyses, we determined that the nodal status (p < 0.001), angioinvasion (p < 0.001), positive PR (p < 0.001), and C-erb-B2 (p < 0.001) were independent prognostic factors for OS. The frequency of breast conserving surgery was 33.9% before Dec 1999, and increased up to 44.1% by year Dec 2002.


CONCLUSIONS
Most of the prognostic variables and clinical characteristics of the Korean breast cancer patients were similar to those reported for Western populations. However, the age distribution in Korean patients seemed to be different from that in patients from Western countries.
Lee
Won-Suk
WS
Department of Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 50 Irwon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-710, Korea.
Lee
Jeong Eon
JE
Kim
Jung Han
JH
Nam
Seok Jin
SJ
Yang
Jung-Hyun
JH
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D007723:Korea; D008408:Mastectomy / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015412:Mastectomy, Segmental / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate