Do Asian breast cancer patients have poorer survival than their western counterparts? A comparison between Singapore and Stockholm. Export

@article{citeulike:3942853, abstract = {INTRODUCTION: The difference in breast cancer incidence and prognosis between ethnic groups seeks an explanation. We have recently shown that Swedish women are two to three times more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer compared with Singaporean women. In the present paper, we compare breast cancer survival in the two countries. METHODS: We compared the survival of 10,287 Singaporean women and 17,090 Swedish women with breast cancer. Relative survival ratios were used to describe the prognosis in the two populations. A Poisson regression model was used to calculate relative risks for different follow-up periods, age groups, time of diagnosis and disease stages. RESULTS: The majority of the Swedish women had local cancer (80\%) compared with Singaporean women (51\%). The overall 5-year relative survival of the Swedish women appeared better (80\%) than that of the Singaporean women (70\%). A similar survival pattern was observed, however, between the two countries in a stage-by-stage comparison. Survival improved for all women in Singapore over the two decades, but only in the premenopausal women in Stockholm. In 1980 to 1989, premenopausal Singaporean women had 27\% increased risk of death compared with Swedish women, adjusted for stage and year of follow-up, while the postmenopausal women had 48\% increased risk. In 1990 to 1999, this risk decreased by 19\% and 22\% for the premenopausal and postmenopausal Singaporean women compared with the Swedish women. CONCLUSIONS: The stage-dependent prognosis was similar for Singaporean women and for Swedish women. Singaporean women, both premenopausal and postmenopausal, had pronounced improvement in prognosis over the calendar periods, probably contributed by marked economic improvement, leading to better medical facilities and management with increased awareness of patients to diagnosis and treatment, as well as improved treatment options. Improvement seen only in the premenopausal women in Stockholm was probably due to improved treatment options.}, author = {Tan, Benita Kiat Tee K. and Lim, Gek Hsiang H. and Czene, Kamila and Hall, Per and Chia, Kee Seng S.}, citeulike-article-id = {3942853}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/bcr2219}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19166618}, citeulike-linkout-2 = {http://www.hubmed.org/display.cgi?uids=19166618}, day = {24}, doi = {10.1186/bcr2219}, issn = {1465-542X}, journal = {Breast cancer research : BCR}, keywords = {asian\_populations, breast, epidemiology, prognosis, survival, trend}, month = {January}, number = {1}, pages = {R4+}, posted-at = {2009-10-21 01:27:20}, priority = {2}, title = {Do Asian breast cancer patients have poorer survival than their western counterparts? A comparison between Singapore and Stockholm.}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/bcr2219}, volume = {11}, year = {2009} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:3942853 L3 - citeulike-article-id:3942853 N2 - INTRODUCTION: The difference in breast cancer incidence and prognosis between ethnic groups seeks an explanation. We have recently shown that Swedish women are two to three times more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer compared with Singaporean women. In the present paper, we compare breast cancer survival in the two countries. METHODS: We compared the survival of 10,287 Singaporean women and 17,090 Swedish women with breast cancer. Relative survival ratios were used to describe the prognosis in the two populations. A Poisson regression model was used to calculate relative risks for different follow-up periods, age groups, time of diagnosis and disease stages. RESULTS: The majority of the Swedish women had local cancer (80%) compared with Singaporean women (51%). The overall 5-year relative survival of the Swedish women appeared better (80%) than that of the Singaporean women (70%). A similar survival pattern was observed, however, between the two countries in a stage-by-stage comparison. Survival improved for all women in Singapore over the two decades, but only in the premenopausal women in Stockholm. In 1980 to 1989, premenopausal Singaporean women had 27% increased risk of death compared with Swedish women, adjusted for stage and year of follow-up, while the postmenopausal women had 48% increased risk. In 1990 to 1999, this risk decreased by 19% and 22% for the premenopausal and postmenopausal Singaporean women compared with the Swedish women. CONCLUSIONS: The stage-dependent prognosis was similar for Singaporean women and for Swedish women. Singaporean women, both premenopausal and postmenopausal, had pronounced improvement in prognosis over the calendar periods, probably contributed by marked economic improvement, leading to better medical facilities and management with increased awareness of patients to diagnosis and treatment, as well as improved treatment options. Improvement seen only in the premenopausal women in Stockholm was probably due to improved treatment options. IS - 1 JF - Breast cancer research : BCR SN - 1465-542X TI - Do Asian breast cancer patients have poorer survival than their western counterparts? A comparison between Singapore and Stockholm. VL - 11 SP - R4 KW - asian_populations KW - breast KW - epidemiology KW - prognosis KW - survival KW - trend AU - Tan, Benita Kiat Tee AU - Lim, Gek Hsiang AU - Czene, Kamila AU - Hall, Per AU - Chia, Kee Seng PY - 2009/01/24/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/bcr2219 ER -