Risk of developing metastatic breast cancer ‘declines with time’
Australian data also show the risk of dying after diagnosis of metastatic disease falls away after the first year.
Australian women’s risk of developing metastatic breast cancer after a diagnosis of localised disease declines with time, dropping to about 1% after five years, researchers have shown.
For regional breast cancer, the risk is about 2% seven years after detection.
The researchers, led by Associate Professor Sally Lord from the University of Notre Dame, also found that the risk of distant metastasis was highest in the second year after the primary diagnsosis.
The team analysed data from 6338 adult women (median age 59) diagnosed with localised (3885) or regional (2453) primary breast cancer recorded in the NSW Cancer Registry from 2001 to 2002.
