The 10-year survival rate reached 76.5% for women diagnosed with any stage breast tumor in 1995-2004, Aman U. Buzdar, MD, and colleagues at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston discovered when looking back at outcomes at their institution.
This rate marked a steady rise from just 25.1% in 1944-1954 (P<0.0001 for trend), they reported at a press briefing in advance of presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's Breast Cancer Symposium here.
Dramatic improvements were also seen across the various stages of cancer, which the group attributed to advances in early detection and combined modality treatment.
"This study shows us how our care of patients has evolved at a rapid pace," commented Jennifer Obel, MD, an ASCO Communications Committee member and moderator of the press briefing. "I think we can hope that the next decade will show similar gains."
The retrospective review included all 12,809 patients diagnosed and seen for their initial breast cancer therapy at MD Anderson between 1944 and 2004.
For local disease, the number of women alive at 10 years rose from 55.0% in the first decade of the study period when radiation therapy was the mainstay of treatment to 86.1% by 1995-2004 (P<0.0001 for trend).
For regional disease with skin or lymph node involvement, 10-year survival improved from a dismal 16.2% to 74.1% over the same period (P<0.0001 for trend).
"This is a dramatic shift because of the combined modality approach" -- often utilizing systemic therapy before or after surgery, Buzdar told reporters. "A dramatic shift in natural history is evident."
Even for those who presented with cancer disseminated to distant sites, improvements were seen from 3.3% alive at 10 years among those seen in 1944 to 1954 up to 22.2% by 1995-2004, again a significant trend at P<0.0001.
"This improvement can be attributed to a number of therapeutic agents available to treat these patients," he suggested in the press briefing.
The findings likely generalize to other centers since similar trends have been seen in the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) databases, Buzdar noted.
And while the results represented outcomes at an academic medical center, the same treatments can be offered in community hospitals, he added.
Obel agreed. "The approach to cancer care in the U.S. has moved to a multidisciplinary coordinated approach across the country and in community hospitals," she told reporters.
Dramatic improvements in medication have played a role as well, she explained.
"Research advances are quickly taken up in the oncology community such that advances with the use of trastuzumab [Herceptin] in adjuvant therapy when they are presented at national meetings are quickly taken up at smaller, more regional hospitals," she said at the briefing.
The researchers reported having no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Primary source: ASCO Breast Cancer Symposium Source reference: Buzdar K, et al "Improving survival of patients with breast cancer over the past 6 decades: The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center experience" ASCO Breast 2010.