Table 1.
Patient characteristics at time of advanced breast cancer diagnosis for the total study population, and for patients diagnosed per period 2008–2010, 2011–2013, 2014–2016 and 2017–2019.
| Characteristics | Total (n = 1950) | 2008–2010 (n = 456) | 2011–2013 (n = 521) | 2014–2016 (n = 480) | 2017–2019 (n = 493) | p-value for Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sex | 0.36 | |||||
| Female | 1932 (99) | 450 (99) | 516 (99) | 477 (99) | 489 (99) | |
| Age (in years) | 0.004 | |||||
| Median (range) | 66 (25–98) | 65 (33–95) | 67 (33–94) | 67 (32–95) | 69 (25–98) | |
| <70 years | 1158 (59) | 287 (63) | 314 (60) | 297 (62) | 260 (53) | |
| ≥70 years | 792 (41) | 169 (37) | 207 (40) | 183 (38) | 233 (47) | |
| WHO status | 0.57 | |||||
| 0–1 | 1204 (83) | 153 (86) | 324 (81) | 342 (83) | 385 (82) | |
| 2–4 | 251 (17) | 25 (14) | 74 (19) | 69 (17) | 83 (18) | |
| Unknown | 495 | 278 | 123 | 69 | 25 | |
| Comorbidities | 0.001 | |||||
| Any | 1137 (58) | 237 (52) | 305 (59) | 282 (59) | 313 (64) | |
| Histology | 0.43 | |||||
| Ductal (NST) | 1412 (72) | 328 (72) | 375 (72) | 343 (72) | 366 (74) | |
| Lobular | 412 (21) | 94 (21) | 118 (23) | 110 (23) | 90 (18) | |
| Other/unknown | 126 (7) | 34 (7) | 28 (5) | 27 (6) | 37 (8) | |
| MFI | 0.71 | |||||
| <3 months | 447 (23) | 94 (21) | 122 (23) | 114 (24) | 117 (24) | |
| 3–60 months | 510 (26) | 147 (32) | 117 (23) | 120 (25) | 126 (26) | |
| 60–120 months | 443 (23) | 101 (22) | 122 (23) | 119 (25) | 101 (21) | |
| >120 months | 550 (28) | 114 (25) | 160 (31) | 127 (27) | 149 (30) | |
| Number of metastatic sites | 0.002 | |||||
| Single | 907 (47) | 236 (52) | 257 (49) | 196 (41) | 218 (44) | |
| Multiple | 1043 (54) | 220 (48) | 264 (51) | 284 (59) | 275 (56) | |
| Sites of metastases | ||||||
| Bones | 1477 (76) | 345 (76) | 408 (78) | 351 (73) | 373 (76) | 0.53 |
| Bone-only | 639 (33) | 165 (36) | 190 (37) | 135 (28) | 149 (30) | 0.006 |
| Soft tissuea | 663 (34) | 125 (27) | 158 (30) | 196 (41) | 184 (37) | <0.001 |
| Visceralb | 1057 (54) | 242 (53) | 271 (52) | 269 (56) | 275 (56) | 0.23 |
| CNSc | 67 (3) | 18 (4) | 16 (3) | 19 (4) | 14 (3) | 0.52 |
| (Neo-)adjuvant chemotherapyd | <0.001 | |||||
| Taxane or AC | 276 (18) | 83 (23) | 82 (21) | 74 (20) | 37 (10) | |
| Taxane and AC | 334 (22) | 33 (9) | 72 (18) | 106 (29) | 123 (33) | |
| Other adjuvant chemotherapy | 84 (6) | 22 (6) | 29 (7) | 12 (3) | 21 (6) | |
| No (neo-)adjuvant chemotherapy | 809 (54) | 224 (62) | 216 (54) | 174 (48) | 195 (52) | |
| (Neo-)adjuvant ETd | <0.001 | |||||
| AI with/without tamoxifen | 638 (42) | 115 (32) | 152 (38) | 198 (54) | 173 (46) | |
| Tamoxifen only, or other | 397 (26) | 116 (32) | 103 (26) | 80 (22) | 98 (26) | |
| No (neo-)adjuvant ET | 468 (31) | 131 (36) | 144 (36) | 88 (24) | 105 (28) |
Data are given as number (%) unless otherwise indicated.
ABC, advanced breast cancer; AC, anthracyclines and cyclophosphamide; AI, aromatase inhibitors; CNS, central nervous system; ET, endocrine therapy; MFI, metastatic-free interval; WHO, World Health Organization.
a
Soft tissue, lymph nodes, skin and eye.
b
Liver, lung, pleura, peritoneum, gastrointestinal tract, other.
c
Brain and leptomeningeal.
d
Among patients with recurrent metastases (excluding patients with de novo ABC).