Table 1.
Patient, disease and treatment characteristics of all patients who died after being diagnosed with advanced breast cancer (left column) and of the 50 patients who died in the hospital (right column).
| Variation | All Patients | Patients who Died in Hospital | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| n = 203 | % | n = 50 | % | |
| Gender | ||||
| Female | 203 | 100% | 50 | 100% |
| Male | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% |
| Incidence year ABC | ||||
| 2007–2009 | 81 | 40% | 20 | 40% |
| 2010–2013 | 93 | 46% | 24 | 48% |
| 2014–2017 | 29 | 14% | 6 | 12% |
| Age at diagnosis ABC (years) | ||||
| Median (range) | 63 | (28–90) | 63 | (28–87) |
| <65 years | 105 | 52% | 28 | 56% |
| 65+ years | 98 | 48% | 22 | 44% |
| Subtype | ||||
| HR+/HER2− | 124 | 61% | 31 | 62% |
| HR+/HER2+ | 29 | 14% | 6 | 12% |
| HR−/HER2+ | 20 | 10% | 5 | 10% |
| HR−/HER2− | 27 | 13% | 6 | 12% |
| Unknown | 3 | 2% | 2 | 4% |
| Metastatic-free interval | ||||
| De novo (<3 months) | 53 | 26% | 17 | 34% |
| 3–24 months | 32 | 16% | 7 | 14% |
| >24 months | 118 | 58% | 26 | 52% |
| Systemic treatments given for ABC | ||||
| Chemotherapy with or without targeted therapy | 130 | 64% | 37 | 74% |
| Endocrine therapy with or without targeted therapy | 124 | 61% | 26 | 52% |
| None | 21 | 10% | 5 | 10% |
| Number of systemic treatment lines given | ||||
| Median (range) | 2 | (0–10) | 2 | (0–8) |
| 0 | 21 | 10% | 5 | 10% |
| 1 | 54 | 27% | 18 | 36% |
| 2 | 31 | 15% | 7 | 14% |
| 3 | 23 | 11% | 5 | 10% |
| 4+ | 74 | 36% | 15 | 30% |
| Final systemic treatment | ||||
| Chemotherapy with or without targeted therapy | 109 | 54% | 32 | 64% |
| Endocrine-targeted therapy | 13 | 6% | 12 | 24% |
| Endocrine therapy | 54 | 26% | 0 | 0% |
| Targeted therapy only | 6 | 3% | 1 | 2% |
| No systemic therapy | 21 | 10% | 5 | 10% |
| Performance status at start last treatment line | ||||
| WHO 0–1 | 81 | 40% | 18 | 36% |
| WHO 2–3 | 100 | 49% | 28 | 56% |
| WHO 4 | 2 | 1% | 1 | 2% |
| Unknown | 20 | 10% | 3 | 6% |
| Cause of death | ||||
| Breast cancer | 176 | 87% | 47 | 94% |
| Progression of disease | 167 | 82% | 39 | 78% |
| Complication of treatment for ABC | 9 | 4% | 8 | 16% |
| Other | 13 | 6% | 3 | 6% |
| Unknown | 14 | 7% | 0 | 0% |
| Time between diagnosis ABC and death (years) | ||||
| <1 | 76 | 37% | 21 | 42% |
| 1–3 | 97 | 48% | 28 | 56% |
| ≥4 | 30 | 15% | 1 | 2% |
ABC, advanced breast cancer; HR, hormone receptor; HER2, Human Epidermal growth factor Receptor 2; WHO, World Health Organization.