Are Two-Centimeter Breast Cancers Large or Small?

Abstract

Background: Node-negative breast cancers from 2 cm to 5 cm in size are classified as stage ii, and smaller cancers, as stage i. We sought to determine if the prognosis of women with a breast cancer exactly 2 cm in size more closely resembles that of women with a stage i or a stage ii breast cancer. Methods: Using a cohort of 4265 young women with breast cancer, we compared the 10-year breast cancer mortality rates for women who had a tumour 0.1–1.9 cm, exactly 2.0 cm, and 2.1–2.9 cm. Results: In the first 3 years after diagnosis, the survival pattern of women with a 2.0-cm breast cancer was nearly identical to that of women with a larger cancer (2.1–3.0 cm). From year 3 to year 10, the relative survival of women with a 2.0-cm breast cancer was improved and nearly identical to that of women with a smaller cancer. The 10-year survival rate was 89.3% for women with tumours less than 20 mm, 86.1% for women with tumours equal to 20 mm, and 81.2% for women with 21-mm to 29-mm tumours. Conclusions: For young women with small breast cancers, the relative mortality from breast cancer is dynamic with increasing tumour size and varies with time from diagnosis.

A Mathematical Model to Predict Diagnostic Periods for Secondary Distant Metastases in Patients with ER/PR/HER2/Ki-67 Subtypes of Breast Cancer

“…As a consequence, oncologists can determine the causes of BC appearance considering the knowledge of when the first tumor cell appeared, which can lead to the development of prevention methods. The relationship between the PT and sdMTSs can provide a deeper understanding of the BC process [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 20 , 21 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 ]. The calculation of the earliest diagnostic period can help with the assignment of early treatment and increase survival [ 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 , 100 ].…”

“…Previous studies showed that (a) the mortality rate depends directly on the PT size and (b) the risk of sdMTS appearance depends directly on the PT size [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][36][37][38][39][40][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86][87][88][89].…”

Cancer burden and alarm signals: a community based study from Kerala, India

“…Most probably women in the community would have picked up the breast lumps more than 2 cm in size. 9 If detected early, the prognosis of breast cancer is very good and the mortality can be reduced. 10 Another community based study done in Kannur district, Kerala showed 23 cases of breast cancer.…”

Reasons symptomatic breast cancer patients delay seeking medical care

“…Participants were excluded if there was a minimal delay in their presentation of less than 3 months, which is a time criterion arbitrarily used by many investigators [19][20][21] , or if their tumor size at time of diagnosis was less than 2 cm, since tumors greater than or equal to this size have been associated with significant mortality benefits and more consistent detection by screening mammogram [22,23] . We also excluded participants who had received a mammogram within 1 year of their diagnosis, as they utilized preventative services in accordance with the strictest available guidelines [24,25] and could most clearly be classified as interval cancers, which have been associated with longer mean waiting times to breast cancer diagnosis compared with screen-detected cancers [26] .…”