Changes in the treatment outcome of node-positive breast cancer stratifiedby menopausal status: Comparison of patients treated in 1965-75 versus those treated in 1976-86

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine whether and to what e xtent the outcome of treatment for lymph-node positive breast cancer patien ts improved between the periods 1965-75 and 1976-86. Methods: The subjects were 1595 patients with breast cancer positive for ly mph node metastasis who were treated at the National Cancer Center Hospital between 1965 and 1986. In order to analyze background factors and treatmen t outcome, we classified the patients into four groups stratified by the ti me of initial surgery (1965-75/1976-86) and menopausal status (premenopause /postmenopause). Results: With respect to the clinicopathological background factors, signif icant changes between the periods 1965-75 and 1976-86 were more frequent us e of modified radical mastectomy and postoperative adjuvant chemoendocrine therapy and less frequent use of postoperative radiotherapy in both pre- an d postmenopausal patients. The 10-year disease-free and overall survival ra tes improved by approximately 15-20% between 1965-75 and 1976-86 in this gr oup of patients, regardless of menopausal status. Conclusion: The patients with node-positive disease treated at our hospital showed an increase in both disease-free and overall survival from 1965 to 1986.