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Breast Cancer Patients Still Have Risk of Relapse After 5 Years of Systemic Therapy CARY, NC -- August 12, 2008 -- Breast cancer survivors continue to have a substantial risk of disease recurrence after 5 years of systemic therapy, according to a study published in the August 12 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Among breast cancer patients who were cancer-free 5 years after initiating systemic therapy, 89% remained recurrence-free at 5 years and 80% remained recurrence free at 10 years. In the current study, Abenaa Brewster, MD, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, and colleagues examined the recurrence rate in 2,838 breast cancer patients who had been treated between 1985 and 2001 at the cancer centre and were included in the centre's tumour registry. To determine the magnitude of residual risk following adjuvant therapy, which might include 5 years of hormone therapy, the researchers looked at what happened to the women 5 years after the start of treatment. After a median follow-up period of 28 months, 216 women developed recurrent disease. The 5-year risk of relapse for women with stage I disease was 7%, 11% for women with stage II disease, and 13% for women with stage III disease. Tumour grade, hormone-receptor status, and endocrine therapy were all statistically significantly associated with risk of recurrence. The increased risk of disease recurrence after 5 years of therapy for women with hormone receptor-positive cancer points to an area of unmet clinical need. While there are risk-reduction options for postmenopausal women who have completed 5 years of tamoxifen therapy, none exist for premenopausal women. New strategies need to be developed for these women to further reduce their risk. "In conclusion, this study demonstrates that patients with early-stage breast cancer who are disease free at 5 years after [adjuvant systemic therapy] have a substantially increased residual risk of recurrence," the authors wrote. SOURCE: Journal of the National Cancer Institute E-mail this page to a friend or colleague! To print, use this version