Overall Survival and Cause-Specific Mortality of Patients With Stage T1a,bN0M0 Breast Carcinoma

Abstract

Purpose With mammographic screening, the frequency of diagnosis of stage T1a,bN0M0 breast cancer has increased. Prognosis after locoregional therapy and benefit from adjuvant systemic therapy are poorly defined. We reviewed T1a,bN0M0 breast cancer cases registered in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program to investigate the impact of prognostic factors on breast cancer–specific (BCSM) and non–breast cancer–related mortality. Methods We identified T1a,bN0M0 breast cancer cases registered in the SEER Program from 1988 to 2001, and used the Kaplan-Meier product limit method to describe overall survival (OS). We estimated the probabilities of death resulting from breast cancer and from other causes, and analyzed associations of patient and tumor characteristics with OS, BCSM, and non–breast cancer–related mortality using the log-rank test, Cox proportional hazards models, and a competing-risk model. We constructed nomograms to assist physicians in adjuvant therapy decision making. Resu...