PracticeUpdate: Haematology & Oncology

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LAUNCHING SOON
Breast cancer
survival rates
By Lillie Shockney RN, BS, MAS
Breast cancer death rates among women decreased be-
tween 2010 and 2014, although racial disparities con-
tinue to be an issue according to a study by the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US published recently in the
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report ( Cancer Res Treat 2016;160:145-152).
The report shows changes in death rates from breast cancer by age group for black
and white women, the groups with the highest death rates in the United States.
Lisa Richardson, MD, Director of the CDC’s Division of Cancer Prevention and
Control, said, “First, the decline in deaths suggests that white and black women
under 50 are benefitting equally from cancer treatments. Second, we’re hopeful
the lack of difference in death rates between black and white women under 50
will start to be seen in older women.”
It has been particularly devastating for families with young children to lose
the young mother to metastatic breast cancer. We are making headway with
improvement in treatment options and more personalised medicine based on
specific prognostic factors and genomics, however, thus lowering the mortality
rate and giving more time to young women diagnosed with stage IV disease to
spend with their families. It is worthy to note that there was a greater decrease
in breast cancer death rates among white women (1.9% per year) than black
women (1.5% per year) between 2010 and 2014. The largest difference by race
was among women aged 60 to 69 years, in whom breast cancer death rates
dropped 2.0% per year among white women, compared with 1.0% per year
among black women.
“The good news is that overall rates of breast cancer are decreasing among black
women. However, when compared with white women, the likelihood that a black
woman will die after a breast cancer diagnosis is still considerably higher,” said
Jacqueline Miller, MD, Medical Director of the CDC’s National Breast and
Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program.
The CDC’s research was further supported by the study, “Ten-year survival in
women with primary stage IV breast cancer,” published in the November issue
of Breast Cancer Research and Treatment (MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep
2016;65:1093-1098).The research study evaluated 25,323 women with stage
IV breast cancer from 1990 to 2012 to determine how survival varies with age
at diagnosis. Results showed decreasing survival with advancing age: for women
aged 40 years and younger, the 10-year survival rate was 15.7%; for ages 41
to 50 years, it was 14.9%; and for women aged 51 to 70 years, it was 11.7%
(P < 0.0001). The adjusted risk of death from breast cancer at 10 years was
lower for women aged 40 years and younger (HR, 0.78) and women aged 41 to
50 years (HR, 0.82) compared with women 51 to 60 years old. In comparing
age groups, as the CDC publication did, women with stage IV breast cancer
have a 10-year survival rate of about 13%. Those women diagnosed with stage
IV breast cancer up to the age of 50 years have a lower risk of death in 10 years
compared with women over 50 years.
Providers, including nurses, need to be vigilant in reminding women about breast
cancer screening and teaching the warning signs of a breast health problem, no
matter what type of patient encounter they are having with the woman, or what
her age or race is. Take the time to assess each patient and determine if she falls
into a high-risk population that may require closer monitoring than the average
female population. This information about improvements in mortality provides
hope for future young women tragically diagnosed with metastatic disease. Until
there is true prevention and cure, survival remains the primary goal, along with
preservation of quality of life.
The year’s top research,
all in one issue
Welcome to our special issue, PracticeUpdate Haema-
tology&Oncology: Best of 2016 , featuring a collection
of the best research of the year from some of the top
oncology and haematology conferences.
Our PracticeUpdate Oncology Advisory and Editorial
Board members discuss their top oncology story of
2016 (see left), and share their take on the best studies
and presentations from the ASCO, EHA, ESMO and
HAA meetings.
On behalf of the Elsevier Australia PracticeUpdate
Haematology & Oncology team, I thank you for your
continued support and readership. We’ve made
some big changes this year, with a new masthead
and improved content, in our continuing efforts to
be relevant and integral to your day-to-day clinical
practice.
Happy holidays and I wish you well for 2017!
Anne Neilson
Managing editor, PracticeUpdate Haematology
& Oncology (Australian Edition)
News, expert opinion, journal articles,
conference coverage dedicated to
rare haematological diseases
Selected by editorial board members
from the Journal of Molecular Genetics &
Metabolism
Rare Haematology
RESOURCE CENTRE
The Rare Haematology
Resource Centre has been funded
by Sanofi Genzyme.
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DECEMBER 2016