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. 2020 Dec 16;148(9):2289–2303. doi: 10.1002/ijc.33417

TABLE 1.

Patient, tumour and treatment characteristics of all women diagnosed with first primary invasive breast cancer in the Netherlands between 1989 and 2017

Period of diagnosis 1989 to 1992 1993 to 1996 1997 to 2000 2001 to 2004 2005 to 2008 2009 to 2012 2013 to 2017 Total
N % N % N % N % N % N % N % N %
Age at diagnosis
Median 61.7 61.0 60.1 59.2 59.7 60.5 61.4 60.5
Range 21.8 to 100.3 20.4 to 107.3 18.7 to 104.2 18.7 to 100.4 18.9 to 102.1 19.2 to 103.1 18.5 to 103.8 18.5 to 107.3
<40 2364 7.3 2463 6.6 2519 6.2 2829 6.4 2682 5.7 2660 5.2 3378 5.1 18 895 5.9
40 to 49 6085 18.8 7028 18.8 7639 18.8 8423 18.9 8986 19.0 9160 17.9 10 880 16.3 58 201 18.2
50 to 74 17 547 54.1 20 492 54.8 22 223 54.7 24 949 56.0 27 385 57.9 30 789 60.3 41 930 62.7 185 315 57.9
≥75 6440 19.9 7444 19.9 8265 20.3 8333 18.7 8215 17.4 8450 16.5 10 691 16.0 57 838 18.1
Tumour stage
I 9992 31.4 13 348 36.6 14 972 37.5 16 558 37.6 18 848 40.1 22 816 44.8 31 212 46.7 127 746 40.3
II 16 505 51.8 17 863 49.0 19 430 48.7 20 107 45.7 19 114 40.7 19 046 37.4 24 688 37.0 136 753 43.1
III 3282 10.3 3282 9.0 3401 8.5 5211 11.8 6814 14.5 6673 13.1 7255 10.9 35 918 11.3
IV 2083 6.5 1996 5.5 2103 5.3 2145 4.9 2236 4.8 2344 4.6 3633 5.4 16 540 5.2
Unknown 574 938 740 513 256 180 91 3292
Tumour size a
T1 14 190 45.2 18 101 50.2 20 640 52.3 23 797 54.6 26 702 57.2 30 041 59.5 40 559 61.2 174 030 55.4
T2 12 741 40.6 13 491 37.4 14 387 36.5 15 852 36.3 16 264 34.9 16 587 32.9 20 126 30.3 109 448 34.9
T3 1617 5.1 1608 4.5 1616 4.1 1738 4.0 1886 4.0 2125 4.2 3346 5.0 13 936 4.4
T4 2866 9.1 2835 7.9 2820 7.1 2232 5.1 1793 3.8 1737 3.4 2291 3.5 16 574 5.3
Unknown 1022 1392 1183 915 623 569 557 6261
Lymph node status a
N0 17 679 56.8 21 621 60.2 23 032 59.0 24 682 57.1 27 959 60.1 31 518 62.3 44 087 66.3 190 578 60.9
N1 12 708 40.8 13 640 38.0 15 427 39.5 15 247 35.3 12 959 27.8 13 849 27.4 17 742 26.7 101 572 32.5
N2 659 2.1 590 1.6 528 1.4 2125 4.9 3440 7.4 3052 6.0 2545 3.8 12 939 4.1
N3 104 0.3 49 0.1 59 0.2 1165 2.7 2199 4.7 2183 4.3 2159 3.2 7918 2.5
Unknown 1286 1527 1600 1315 711 457 346 7242
Histological grade b
Grade 1 1022 8.1 1611 10.3 4248 16.1 6988 19.4 9196 22.7 10 295 24.3 14 031 24.5 47 391 20.6
Grade 2 4207 33.5 5824 37.3 11 179 42.3 16 202 45.0 18 032 44.5 19 275 45.6 28 176 49.2 102 895 44.6
Grade 3 7330 58.4 8163 52.3 10 997 41.6 12 833 35.6 13 249 32.7 12 723 30.1 15 027 26.3 80 322 34.8
Unknown 19 877 21 829 14 222 8511 6791 8766 9645 89 641
ER‐status
Positive 37 675 81.7 41 961 83.9 55 964 84.7 135 600 83.6
Negative 8433 18.3 8073 16.1 10 116 15.3 26 622 16.4
Unknown 1160 1025 799 2984
PR‐status
Positive 29 126 65.9 33 193 67.5 45 736 69.3 108 055 67.8
Negative 15 104 34.1 16 011 32.5 20 269 30.7 51 384 32.2
Unknown 3038 1855 874 5767
HER2‐status
Positive 6435 15.3 6892 14.3 8766 13.7 22 093 14.3
Negative 35 617 84.7 41 291 85.7 55 143 86.3 132 051 85.7
Unknown 5216 2876 2970 11 062
Receptor subtype c
HR+/HER2− 30 594 73.4 35 865 74.8 48 453 75.9 114 912 74.9
HR+/HER2+ 3929 9.4 4481 9.3 5843 9.2 14 253 9.3
HR−/HER2+ 2384 5.7 2329 4.9 2908 4.6 7621 5.0
HR−/HER2− 4765 11.4 5287 11.0 6652 10.4 16 704 10.9
Unknown 5596 3097 3023 11 716
Surgery + radiotherapy d
BCS + RT 8480 26.1 12 749 34.1 15 315 37.7 19 608 44.0 22 796 48.2 25 494 49.9 36 977 55.3 141 419 44.2
BCS + no RT 486 1.5 781 2.1 1028 2.5 847 1.9 712 1.5 754 1.5 1256 1.9 5864 1.8
Mastectomy + RT 4433 13.7 5653 15.1 6041 14.9 6063 13.6 5910 12.5 6276 12.3 8579 12.8 42 955 13.4
Mastectomy + no RT 7609 23.5 13 662 36.5 14 591 35.9 14 105 31.7 13 518 28.6 13 715 26.9 13 215 19.8 90 415 28.2
Surgery (unspecified) + RT 3855 11.9 500 1.3 32 0.1 13 0.0 5 0.0 2 0.0 3 0.0 4410 1.4
Surgery (unspecified) + no RT 4416 13.6 610 1.6 82 0.2 11 0.0 3 0.0 4 0.0 8 0.0 5134 1.6
No surgery + RT 730 2.3 574 1.5 412 1.0 395 0.9 302 0.6 263 0.5 295 0.4 2971 0.9
No surgery + no RT 2427 7.5 2898 7.7 3145 7.7 3492 7.8 4022 8.5 4551 8.9 6546 9.8 27 081 8.5
Chemotherapy
Taxane‐containing CT e 4 0.0 8 0.0 68 0.2 159 0.4 3589 7.6 5947 11.6 3175 4.7 12 950 4.0
Anthracycline‐containing CT f 6 0.0 26 0.1 125 0.3 3673 8.2 3299 7.0 2016 3.9 1195 1.8 10 340 3.2
Taxane‐ and anthracycline‐ containing CT g 0 0.0 0 0.0 6 0.0 127 0.3 2297 4.9 10 521 20.6 22 024 32.9 34 975 10.9
CT (other/unspecified) h 4329 13.3 5483 14.6 9849 24.2 11 245 25.3 8804 18.6 4029 7.9 306 0.5 44 045 13.8
No CT 28 097 86.6 31 910 85.3 30 598 75.3 29 330 65.9 29 279 61.9 28 546 55.9 40 179 60.1 217 939 68
Endocrine therapy i
Tamoxifen first 18 0.1 38 0.1 143 0.4 9649 21.7 21 043 44.5 26 104 51.1 29 774 44.5 86 769 27.1
Aromatase inhibitors first 0 0.0 1 0.0 2 0.0 863 1.9 2335 4.9 3999 7.8 8950 13.4 16 150 5.0
Ovarian ablation j 9 0.0 91 0.2 194 0.5 184 0.4 118 0.2 113 0.2 186 0.3 895 0.3
ET (other/unspecified) k 9708 29.9 11 436 30.6 14 630 36.0 9145 20.5 0 0.0 0 0.0 4 0.0 44 923 14.0
No endocrine therapy 22 701 70.0 25 861 69.1 25 677 63.2 24 693 55.4 23 772 50.3 20 843 40.8 27 965 41.8 171 512 53.6
Systemic therapy
Chemotherapy only 3829 11.8 4670 12.5 6683 16.4 6490 14.6 4448 9.4 4633 9.1 5598 8.4 36 351 11.4
Endocrine therapy only 9225 28.4 10 719 28.6 11 604 28.5 11 191 25.1 11 747 24.9 14 436 28.3 20 616 30.8 89 538 28.0
Chemotherapy and endocrine therapy 510 1.6 847 2.3 3365 8.3 8605 19.3 9843 20.8 12 965 25.4 14 105 21.1 50 240 15.7
Targeted therapy l 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 115 0.3 3751 7.9 5075 9.9 7220 10.8 16 161 5.0
No systemic therapy 18 872 58.2 21 191 56.6 18 994 46.7 18 133 40.7 17 479 37.0 13 950 27.3 19 340 28.9 127 959 40.0
Total 32 436 100.0 37 427 100.0 40 646 100.0 44 534 100.0 47 268 100.0 51 059 100.0 66 879 100.0 320 249 m 100.0

Abbreviations: AI, aromatase inhibitor; BCS, breast‐conserving surgery; CT, chemotherapy; ET, endocrine therapy; ER, oestrogen receptor; HER2, human epidermal growth factor receptor2; HR, hormone receptor; NCR, Netherlands Cancer Registry; PR, progesterone receptor; RT, radiotherapy.

Note: The various elements included in the table were collected by the NCR at different moments in time. ER status and PR status were routinely collected and included in the NCR since 2005 and HER2 status since 2006. Specification of chemotherapy and endocrine therapy regimens in the NCR has been done since 2003. Target therapy was routinely collected and included in the NCR since 2005 (mainly trastuzumab). Treatment data in the NCR are collected up to 1 year after initial cancer diagnosis. The data may still include 162 in situ BC cases due to discrepancies in registration within the dataset. Percentages may not total to 100% due to rounding.

a

Tumour size and lymph node status are based on the pathological stage, but clinical stage was used if pathological stage was unavailable.

b

Including 502 first primary BCs that were defined as “undifferentiated” in the NCR.

c

HR+ = ER+ and/or PR+, HR− = ER− and PR−.

d

Patients that received both BCS and mastectomy were included in the mastectomy group.

e

The chemotherapy regimen contains taxanes, but no anthracyclines.

f

The chemotherapy regimen contains anthracyclines, but no taxanes.

g

The chemotherapy regimen contains both taxanes and anthracyclines.

h

All other chemotherapy regimens (eg, cyclophosphamide/cisplatin‐containing regimes) and/or chemotherapy not further specified.

i

The NCR codes aromatase inhibitors specifically; tamoxifen is coded as endocrine treatment. Both treatments were included when provided as initial treatment.

j

Ovarian ablation includes LHRH agonist treatment, radiotherapy and/or surgical removal of the ovaries to reduce oestrogen production in premenopausal women.

k

All other endocrine treatments (eg, fulvestrant) and/or not further specified.

l

Patients received targeted therapy either alone or in combination with CT, ET or both.

m

Total numbers provided do not correspond with those for the ER, PR, HER2 and the receptor subtype groups due to their inclusion since 2005 to 2009.