Is Season a Prognostic Factor in Breast Cancer?

Abstract

Background: Some studies have indicated an inverse relationship between cancer risk and sunlight exposure. Others have reported that the prognosis of some cancers such as prostate, colon, ovarian and non melanoma skin cancer, were affected by the season in which the cancer was diagnosed. In our study, we evaluated whether season is prognostic in Turkish patients with breast cancer. Materials and Methods: A total of 517 patients from Kayseri Training and Research Hospital were analysed retrospectively. Patients were divided into 4 groups according to season of cancer diagnosis: winter, spring, summer and autumn. The prognostic factors for disease free survival and overall survival were investigated. Results: No significant differences were found among groups regarding prognostic factors overall. Only estrogen receptor status and lymphovascular invasion were independent prognostic factors (p=0.001 and p=0.001 respectively). We found significantly differences for mean disease free survival among groups (p=0.019). Winter group had better mean DFS while summer group had worse DFS. Mean overall survival was similar in the four groups (p=0.637). Conclusions: The season is not an independent predictive factor. However, due to interaction with other factors, we think that the season of cancer diagnosis is important for cancer prognosis.

Clinical and Prognostic Significance of SOX11 in Breast Cancer

“…As illustrated in Table 2, nuclear SOX11 expression was independently correlated with prognosis of patients (p=0.031), together with tumor grade (p=0.042) and lymph node metastasis (p=0.029). Similarly, previous study also found tumor grade is an independent prognostic factor affecting the survival of breast cancer patients (Mutlu et al, 2013). In all clinicopathologic factors, lymph node metastasis was the most independent features predicting prognosis (p=0.029).…”

Season of Diagnosis and Survival of Advanced Lung Cancer Cases - Any Correlation?

“…They found that the relative risk of cancer death diagnosed in summer and autumn were lower compared to winter and there was a statistically significant dependence of survival on season of diagnosis. Mutlu et al (2013) have evaluated if season was an independent prognostic factor in breast cancer patients and they have suggested that it was not an independent prognostic factor for overall survival. However different from other studies, in that study, the patients diagnosed in winter were found to have significantly better DFS times (p 0.019).…”

Recurrence Season Impacts the Survival of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Patients

“…During winter months, the endogenous synthesis of vitamin D3 and the total 25-hydroxyvitamin D level in serum are up to one half of the corresponding states during the summer and autumn months (Poskitt et al, 1979;Vik et al, 1980). Several studies indicated that the prognosis of many cancers such as lung -prostate-, breast-, colon cancer and Hodgkin lymphoma is related to the season of diagnosis (Lim et al, 2006;Porojnicu & Lagunova et al, 2007;Porojnicu et al, 2008;Mutlu et al, 2013;Oguz et al, 2013). Patients with breast cancer and colon cancer diagnosed in the summer and autumn have better survival comparing to those diagnosed in winter (Moan et al, 2005;Porojnicu & Lagunova et al, 2007), although opposite results were reported by Mutlu et al (2013).…”

“…Many previously experimental studies also reported that vitamin D promotes cell differentiation and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 reduces the invasive potential of cancer cells in patients with metastasis. Thus, vitamin D may play an important role in the process of cancer occurrence (Mutlu et al, 2013). Vitamin D can be obtained from sun-exposure and through diets.…”