Long-term relapses of breast cancer: a neglected but important issue

The relatively frequent finding of long-term relapses from breast cancer, e ight years or more after the mastectomy, could indicate that breast cancer is a particular neoplasm and even suggests that it could be a systemic dise ase. The study of receptors in cases of long-term relapses instead indicate that breast cancer, with the exception of the presence of hormonal recepto rs which influence the clinical behavior, is similar to neoplasms that aris e in other parts of the body. it is possible that the presence of receptors indirectly conditions the formation of antimitotic factors more effective than those known today, up to determining in some cases the phenomenon of l ong-term relapses. Such factors are presumably active also for neoplasms ar ising in other parts of the body. (C) 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.