[The trend of clinical characteristics and prognosis of women's breast cancer 1981 - 2000].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the trend of clinical characteristics and prognosis of breast cancer in women during the past 2 decades (1981 - 2000).


METHODS
1678 cases were sampled randomly from the 11400 breast cancer patients who were hospitalized in Tianjin Medical University Cancer Hospital 1981 - 2000. Retrospective analysis of the clinical characteristics and prognosis between different eras was conducted.


RESULTS
The numbers of hospitalized female breast cancer patients during the periods 1981 - 1985, 1986 - 1990, 1991 - 1995, 1996 - 2000 were 209, 316, 449, and 704 respectively with an increase of 237% within 20 years and an annual increase rate of 11.8%. The mean onset age remained 46 - 47. The detection rate of breast cancer at early stages (stages 0 approximately I) was 15.5% during 1996 - 2000, higher than that during 1981 - 1985 (12%), and the detection rate of breast cancer at stage III during 1996 - 2000 was 16.5%, lower than that during 1981 - 1985 (24.9%). The proportion of carcinoma in situ during 1996 - 2000 was 4.4%, higher than that during 1981 - 1985 (3.7%). The axillary lymph node positive rate during 1996 - 2000 was 46.3%, lower than that during 1981 - 1985 (51.8%s), and the local recurrence/distance metastasis rate during 1996 - 200 was 13.5%, lower than that during 1981 - 1985 (27.8%). The 5-year and 10-year survival rates during 1996 - 2000 were 86% and 74%, both higher than those during 1981 - 1985 (76% and 63% respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
During the past 2 decades, the incidence of breast cancer shows an uptrend. The proportion of early stage breast cancer increases gradually and the proportion of axillary lymph node positive rate and metastasis rate show a downtrend. The prognosis of the breast cancer patients has been improved during these periods.
Department of Breast, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, Tianjin 300060, China.
Hong
H
Liu
Pei
P
Xun
Ke-xin
KX
Chen
Hai-xin
HX
Li
Xi-shan
XS
Hao
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis