Can patients with breast cancer be cured of their disease? A sample of the M. D. Anderson hospital experience

Theories concerning cures for breast cancer vary from the concept that no patients are cured, to the idea that the hazard to patients who have survived eight years is no greater than that for the population as a whole. To test these concepts as well as our modification of the concept of cure, we ass...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cancer 1983-03, Vol.51 (5), p.938-945
Main Authors: McBride, Charles M., Brown, Barry W., Thompson, James R., Westbrook, Kent C., Milne, Catherine A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Age Factors
Aged
Breast Neoplasms - mortality
Breast Neoplasms - therapy
Female
Health
Health Status
Humans
Middle Aged
Models, Biological
Probability
Prognosis
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Summary:Theories concerning cures for breast cancer vary from the concept that no patients are cured, to the idea that the hazard to patients who have survived eight years is no greater than that for the population as a whole. To test these concepts as well as our modification of the concept of cure, we assumed that a proportion (P) of the population of patients is cured and have the same mortality experience as that for the population as a whole. The remaining proportion Q = 1 ‐ P experience mortality as do the population and also that due to cancer. The hazard rate due to cancer is assumed to be constant. When survival experience for the 804 female patients with breast cancer admitted during 1958 through 1960 and that predicted from our model are plotted, the fit is excellent, particularly for survivals up to 15 years. As to whether some patients with breast cancer are cured of their disease, the answer is yes, using our definition of cure.
ISSN:0008-543X
1097-0142
DOI:10.1002/1097-0142(19830301)51:5<938::AID-CNCR2820510529>3.0.CO;2-8