Volume 132, Issue 5 pp. 1170-1181
Epidemiology

Breast cancer survival in the US and Europe: A CONCORD high-resolution study

Claudia Allemani

Corresponding Author

Claudia Allemani

Cancer Research UK Cancer Survival Group, Department of Non-communicable Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, United Kingdom

Analytical Epidemiology Unit, Department of Preventive and Predictive Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, via Venezian 1, Milan, Italy

Tel.: +44-20-7927-2855

Lecturer in Cancer Epidemiology, Cancer Research UK Cancer Survival Group, Department of Non-communicable Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UKSearch for more papers by this author
Milena Sant

Milena Sant

Analytical Epidemiology Unit, Department of Preventive and Predictive Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, via Venezian 1, Milan, Italy

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Hannah K. Weir

Hannah K. Weir

Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MS-K53 Atlanta, GA

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Lisa C. Richardson

Lisa C. Richardson

Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MS-K53 Atlanta, GA

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Paolo Baili

Paolo Baili

Descriptive Studies and Health Planning Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, via Venezian 1, Milan, Italy

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Hans Storm

Hans Storm

Department of Cancer Prevention and Documentation, Danish Cancer Society, Strandboulevarden 49, Copenhagen Ø, Denmark

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Sabine Siesling

Sabine Siesling

Netherlands Cancer Registry, Comprehensive Cancer Center the Netherlands, 3501 DB Utrecht, The Netherlands

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Ana Torrella-Ramos

Ana Torrella-Ramos

Cancer Registry Castellón (Comunitat Valenciana), Avenida del Mar 12, Castellón, Spain

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Adri C. Voogd

Adri C. Voogd

Department of Research, Eindhoven Cancer Registry, 5600 AE Eindhoven, The Netherlands

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Tiiu Aareleid

Tiiu Aareleid

Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, National Institute for Health Development, Tallinn, Estonia

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Eva Ardanaz

Eva Ardanaz

Navarra Cancer Registry, Navarra Public Health Institute (CIBERESP), C Leyre 15, Pamplona, Navarra, Spain

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Franco Berrino

Franco Berrino

Unit of Etiological Epidemiology and Prevention, Department of Preventive and Predictive Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy

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Magdalena Bielska-Lasota

Magdalena Bielska-Lasota

Bioethics and Health Psychology Unit, Department of Health Promotion and Postgraduate Education, National Institute of Public Health, National Institute of Hygiene, Warsaw, Poland

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Susan Bolick

Susan Bolick

South Carolina Central Cancer Registry, Columbia, SC

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Claudia Cirilli

Claudia Cirilli

Modena Cancer Registry, Via Del Pozzo 71, Modena, Italy

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Marc Colonna

Marc Colonna

Isère Cancer Registry, 21 Chemin des Sources, Meylan, France

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Paolo Contiero

Paolo Contiero

Cancer Registry and Environmental Epidemiology Unit, Fondazione IRCSS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Via Venezian 1, Milan, Italy

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Rosemary Cress

Rosemary Cress

Public Health Institute/California Cancer Registry, Sacramento, CA

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Emanuele Crocetti

Emanuele Crocetti

Tuscany Cancer Registry, UO Epidemiologia Clinica e Descrittiva, ISPO, Via di San Salvi 12, Firenze, Italy

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John P. Fulton

John P. Fulton

Rhode Island Cancer Registry, Providence, RI

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Pascale Grosclaude

Pascale Grosclaude

Tarn Cancer Registry, Chemin des Trois Tarn, Albi, France

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Timo Hakulinen

Timo Hakulinen

Finnish Cancer Registry, Institute for Statistical and Epidemiological Cancer Research, Pieni Roobertinkatu 9, Helsinki, Finland

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M. Isabel Izarzugaza

M. Isabel Izarzugaza

Registros e Información Sanitaria, Dpto. de Sanidad del Gobierno Vasco, c Donostia-San Sebastian, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain

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Per Malmström

Per Malmström

Skåne Department of Oncology, Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden

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Karin Peignaux

Karin Peignaux

Côte d'Or Breast and Gynecologic Cancer Registry, Center Georges-François Leclerc, Dijon, France

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Maja Primic-Žakelj

Maja Primic-Žakelj

Epidemiology and Cancer Registry, Institute of Oncology Ljubljana, Zaloska, Ljubljana, Slovenia

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Jadwiga Rachtan

Jadwiga Rachtan

Cracow Cancer Registry, Center of Oncology, M Skłodowska-Curie Memorial Institute, Garncarska 11, Krakow, Poland

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Chakameh Safaei Diba

Chakameh Safaei Diba

National Cancer Registry of Slovakia, National Health Information Center, Lazaretska 26, Bratislava, Slovakia

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Maria-José Sánchez

Maria-José Sánchez

Andalusian School of Public Health (Granada, Spain) and CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Madrid, Spain

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Maria J. Schymura

Maria J. Schymura

New York State Cancer Registry, Menands, NY

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Tiefu Shen

Tiefu Shen

Illinois State Cancer Registry, Springfield, IL

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Adele Traina

Adele Traina

Department of Oncology, P.O. M. Ascoli, ARNAS-Civico, Palermo, Italy

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Laufey Tryggvadottir

Laufey Tryggvadottir

Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland

Icelandic Cancer Registry, Skogarhlid 8, 125 Reykjavik, Iceland

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Rosario Tumino

Rosario Tumino

Cancer Registry and Histopathology Unit, Civile-MP Arezzo Hospital, ASP Ragusa, Piazza Igea 1, Ragusa, Italy

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Michel Velten

Michel Velten

Laboratoire d'épidémiologie et de santé publique, Registre des cancers du Bas-Rhin, Faculté de médecine-Université de Strasbourg, 4 rue Kirschleger, Strasbourg, France

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Marina Vercelli

Marina Vercelli

UOS Epidemiologia Descrittiva, USM-IST (IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria San Martino—IST Istituto Nazionale per la Ricerca sul Cancro), Largo R Benzi, 10-CBA, Torre C1, Genova, Italy

Sez. Epidemiologia Descrittiva, Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università di Genova, Via A. Pastore 1, USM-IST/UNIGE, Genova, Italy

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Holly J. Wolf

Holly J. Wolf

Colorado School of Public Health, Aurora, CO

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Anne-Sophie Woronoff

Anne-Sophie Woronoff

Doubs Cancer Registry, University Hospital Besançon, 2 Place Saint-Jacques, Besançon Cédex, France

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Xiaocheng Wu

Xiaocheng Wu

Louisiana Tumor Registry, LSUHSC School of Public Health, New Orleans, LA

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Michel P. Coleman

Michel P. Coleman

Cancer Research UK Cancer Survival Group, Department of Non-communicable Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, United Kingdom

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First published: 20 July 2012
Citations: 96

Abstract

Breast cancer survival is reportedly higher in the US than in Europe. The first worldwide study (CONCORD) found wide international differences in age-standardized survival. The aim of this study is to explain these survival differences. Population-based data on stage at diagnosis, diagnostic procedures, treatment and follow-up were collected for about 20,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer aged 15–99 years during 1996–98 in 7 US states and 12 European countries. Age-standardized net survival and the excess hazard of death up to 5 years after diagnosis were estimated by jurisdiction (registry, country, European region), age and stage with flexible parametric models. Breast cancers were generally less advanced in the US than in Europe. Stage also varied less between US states than between European jurisdictions. Early, node-negative tumors were more frequent in the US (39%) than in Europe (32%), while locally advanced tumors were twice as frequent in Europe (8%), and metastatic tumors of similar frequency (5–6%). Net survival in Northern, Western and Southern Europe (81–84%) was similar to that in the US (84%), but lower in Eastern Europe (69%). For the first 3 years after diagnosis the mean excess hazard was higher in Eastern Europe than elsewhere: the difference was most marked for women aged 70–99 years, and mainly confined to women with locally advanced or metastatic tumors. Differences in breast cancer survival between Europe and the US in the late 1990s were mainly explained by lower survival in Eastern Europe, where low healthcare expenditure may have constrained the quality of treatment.

Abstract

What's new?

Most of the diagnostic and therapeutic modalities used for breast cancer more than 10 years ago remain in widespread use today. Understanding the extent to which access to those modalities can explain international differences in cancer survival therefore remains highly relevant. This is the largest population-based high-resolution study, with a common protocol, standard quality-control procedures and central analyses. The modelling approach to estimate net survival is a methodological strength.

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