Current topics in breast cancer clinical research, 2007.

摘要

Received: September 27, 2007The high incidence of breast cancer in westernized coun-tries and its common occurrence in women has made it a topic of great interest, prompting intensive efforts in clinical, translational, and basic research. Clinical trials performed throughout the world have contributed considerable information about the early detection, as well as the management of breast cancer, using surgery, radiation therapy, and systemic therapies, including chemotherapy and endocrine therapy.Although Japan is one of the countries with a low risk for female breast cancer, the incidence rate and the mortality rate are gradually increasing The incidence of breast cancer in Japan superseded that of gastric cancer as the cancer of highest incidence in 1994, and the mortality rate of breast cancer has increased from 3.5 per 100000 population in 1955 to 17.3 in 2006, with the worst mortality among women aged 30-64 years. This trend of increasing mortality is peculiar to Japan and Asian countries, and isnot observed in westernized countries, where breast cancer mortality has decreased since the 1990s, mainly due to the success of widespread use of screening mammography.