Study: Japanese women have lower recurrence of breast cancer
Woman of Japanese descent treated with a lumpectomy and radiation therapy are more likely to be cured than woman of other ancestral backgrounds, according to the May issue of International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, the official journal of ASTRO (the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology).
Between 1990 and 2001, the study of 896 patients at Kuakini Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, found that only six of the women (.67 percent) experienced a recurrence of their breast cancer within the first six years following treatment. The patients in the study all had early stage tumors. Seventy-four percent of the women participating were of Japanese heritage, ASTRO said.
This figure is notable in comparison to the recurrence rates (2 to 16 percent) for women of all ethnicities with breast cancer reported from academic centers all over the world. Generally, the Kuakini Medical Center's survival data were better than the National U.S. Cancer Data Base, ASTRO said.
Between 1990 and 2001, the study of 896 patients at Kuakini Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, found that only six of the women (.67 percent) experienced a recurrence of their breast cancer within the first six years following treatment. The patients in the study all had early stage tumors. Seventy-four percent of the women participating were of Japanese heritage, ASTRO said.
This figure is notable in comparison to the recurrence rates (2 to 16 percent) for women of all ethnicities with breast cancer reported from academic centers all over the world. Generally, the Kuakini Medical Center's survival data were better than the National U.S. Cancer Data Base, ASTRO said.