Invitation to mammographic screening results in a highly significant decrease in breast cancer-specific mortality. Evaluation of the full impact of screening, in particular estimates of absolute benefit and number needed to screen, requires follow-up times exceeding 20 years because the observed number of breast cancer deaths prevented increases with increasing time of follow-up.

CRP and smoking status are independent prognostic factors for survival in patients with advanced NSCLC receiving palliative first-line chemotherapy and provide additional information to established prognostic factors such as stage of disease and performance status.

and prediction of response to adjuvant tamoxifen treatment in postmenopausal women with early stage invasive breast cancer. Patients and methodsThe Stockholm Breast Cancer Study Group conducted a randomized trial during 1976 through 1990 comparing adjuvant tamoxifen versus control. The patients were stratified according to tumor size and lymph node status in high risk and low risk groups. In this study we evaluated 683 patients with "low risk" breast cancer (size≤30 mm, lymph node-negative) for whom ER status had been determined by both the cytosol assays and immunohistochemistry at one pathology laboratory. The median follow up was 17 years. ResultSix hundred eighty three patients had tumors with ER determined by both methods, 536 (78.5%) were ERpositive by cytosol assays using the cut off level at ≥ 0.05 fmol/µg DNA and 539 patients were ER-positive ConclusionBoth IHC and cytosol assay accurately predict long-term response to adjuvant tamoxifen.3

BackgroundSystematic reviews have found that luteinizing hormone–releasing hormone (LHRH) agonists are effective in treating premenopausal women with early breast cancer.MethodsWe conducted long-term follow-up (median 12 years) of 2706 women in the Zoladex In Premenopausal Patients (ZIPP), which evaluated the LHRH agonist goserelin (3.6 mg injection every 4 weeks) and tamoxifen (20 or 40 mg daily), given for 2 years. Women were randomly assigned to receive each therapy alone, both, or neither, after primary therapy (surgery with or without radiotherapy/chemotherapy). Hazard ratios and absolute risk differences were used to assess the effect of goserelin treatment on event-free survival (breast cancer recurrence, new tumor or death), overall survival, risk of recurrence of breast cancer, and risk of dying from breast cancer, in the presence or absence of tamoxifen.ResultsFifteen years after the initiation of treatment, for every 100 women not given tamoxifen, there were 13.9 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 17.5 to 19.4) fewer events among those who were treated with goserelin compared with those who were not treated with goserelin. However, among women who did take tamoxifen, there were 2.8 fewer events (95% CI = 7.7 fewer to 2.0 more) per 100 women treated with goserelin compared with those not treated with goserelin. The risk of dying from breast cancer was also reduced at 15 years: For every 100 women given goserelin, the number of breast cancer deaths was lower by 2.6 (95% CI = 6.6 fewer to 2.1 more) and 8.5 (95% CI = 2.2 to 13.7) in those who did and did not take tamoxifen, respectively, although in the former group the difference was not statistically significant.ConclusionsTwo years of goserelin treatment was as effective as 2 years of tamoxifen treatment 15 years after starting therapy. In women who did not take tamoxifen, there was a large benefit of goserelin treatment on survival and recurrence, and in women who did take tamoxifen, there was a marginal potential benefit on these outcomes when goserelin was added.