Long-Running Study Shows 15-Years Survival Gains in Early Breast Cancer

摘要

More than 20 years ago, lead investigators in randomized trials in early breast cancer agreed that every five years the data from individual patients would be pooled and reanalyzed in a series of "overviews." That this agreement, known as the Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group (EBCTCG), has had a profound effect on clinical practice and on patients is suggested both by the appearance of authoritative guidelines that draw heavily on EBCTCG findings and by a total of more than 10,000 citations to the various reports. The fourth of these overviews has reached a citation pinnacle (#1). This paper looks at adjuvant chemotherapy and hormonal therapy (mainly tamoxifen). A companion article, focusing on local treatment—i.e., the surgical and radiotherapeutic aspects of the management of patients with this cancer—appeared seven months later (EBCTCG, Lancet, 366 [9503]: 2087-106, 2005; 21 citations this bimonthly period, with 116 total to date, compared with paper #1's 400+ citations as of mid-summer 2007).