Abstract
We have analysed the age- and stage-specific breast-cancer incidence rates of Japanese and Caucasian women in Hawaii for a 20-year period. A comparison of the 1192 Japanese and 1531 Caucasian patients by stage at diagnosis showed that Japanese women were likely to have breast cancer diagnosed at an earlier stage than Caucasian women, but this difference was statistically significant only after the menopause (ages 55+). We further found that for age 50-74, the age-specific ratios of Caucasian to Japanese incidence rates were least for in situ breast cancer, and successively greater for localized, regional and distant breast cancer. We interpreted this latter finding to be an indication that postmenopausal breast cancers in Japanese women have slower average growth rates than in Caucasian women. Such slower growth rates may explain the better breast-cancer survival among Japanese women after allowing for differences in stage, tumour size, histology, or treatment.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Donegan W. L., Hartz A. J., Rimm A. A. The association of body weight with recurrent cancer of the breast. Cancer. 1978 Apr;41(4):1590–1594. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(197804)41:4<1590::aid-cncr2820410449>3.0.co;2-n. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- GERSHON-COHEN J., BERGER S. M., KLICKSTEIN H. S. ROENTGENOGRAPHY OF BREAST CANCER MODERATING CONCEPT OF "BIOLOGIC PREDETERMINISM". Cancer. 1963 Aug;16:961–964. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(196308)16:8<961::aid-cncr2820160802>3.0.co;2-b. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Heuser L., Spratt J. S., Polk H. C., Jr Growth rates of primary breast cancers. Cancer. 1979 May;43(5):1888–1894. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(197905)43:5<1888::aid-cncr2820430545>3.0.co;2-m. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kolonel L. N., Hankin J. H., Lee J., Chu S. Y., Nomura A. M., Hinds M. W. Nutrient intakes in relation to cancer incidence in Hawaii. Br J Cancer. 1981 Sep;44(3):332–339. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1981.189. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lundgren B. Observations on growth rate of breast carcinomas and its possible implications for lead time. Cancer. 1977 Oct;40(4):1722–1725. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(197710)40:4<1722::aid-cncr2820400448>3.0.co;2-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- MacDonald P. C., Edman C. D., Hemsell D. L., Porter J. C., Siiteri P. K. Effect of obesity on conversion of plasma androstenedione to estrone in postmenopausal women with and without endometrial cancer. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1978 Feb 15;130(4):448–455. doi: 10.1016/0002-9378(78)90287-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Miller A. B., Kelly A., Choi N. W., Matthews V., Morgan R. W., Munan L., Burch J. D., Feather J., Howe G. R., Jain M. A study of diet and breast cancer. Am J Epidemiol. 1978 Jun;107(6):499–509. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a112569. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Morrison A. S., Lowe C. R., MacMahon B., Ravnihar B., Yuasa S. Some international differences in treatment and survival in breast cancer. Int J Cancer. 1976 Sep 15;18(3):269–273. doi: 10.1002/ijc.2910180302. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Nemoto T., Tominaga T., Chamberlain A., Iwasa Z., Koyama H., Hama M., Bross I., Dao T. Differences in breast cancer between Japan and the United States. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1977 Feb;58(2):193–197. doi: 10.1093/jnci/58.2.193. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rosen P. P., Ashikari R., Thaler H., Ishikawa S., Hirota T., Abe O., Yamamoto H., Beattie E. J., Jr, Urban J. A., Miké V. A comparative study of some pathologic features of mammary carcinoma in Tokyo, Japan and New York, USA. Cancer. 1977 Feb;39(2):429–434. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(197702)39:2<429::aid-cncr2820390210>3.0.co;2-o. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- SMITH R. L. Recorded and expected mortality among the Japanese of the United States and Hawaii, with special reference to cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1956 Oct;17(4):459–473. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- WYNDER E. L., KAJITANI T., KUNO J., LUCAS J. C., Jr, DEPALO A., FARROW J. A COMPARISON OF SURVIVAL RATES BETWEEN AMERICAN AND JAPANESE PATIENTS WITH BREAST CANCER. Surg Gynecol Obstet. 1963 Aug;117:196–200. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wilkinson G. S., Edgerton F., Wallace H. J., Jr, Reese P., Patterson J., Priore R. Delay, stage of disease and survival from breast cancer. J Chronic Dis. 1979;32(5):365–373. doi: 10.1016/0021-9681(79)90078-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- de Waard F. Premenopausal and postmenopausal breast cancer: one disease or two? J Natl Cancer Inst. 1979 Sep;63(3):549–552. doi: 10.1093/jnci/63.3.549. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]