SURVIVAL OF BREAST-CANCER PATIENTS AND BODY SIZE INDICATORS

The association of breast‐cancer survival with various risk factors was investigated using data of 213 breast‐cancer patients who underwent surgical operation between 1975 and 1978. They were followed‐up until 1987, and a total of 64 deaths including 47 breast‐cancer deaths were certified. The 5‐year and 10‐year relative survival rates were 78.5% and 75.3% respectively. Of the various factors investigated, some anthropometric indicators revealed interesting results; i. e., body weight, Quetelet index, and body surface area at the time of operation turned out to be strong predictors of survival with a statistically significant trend towards lower survival with larger body structure even after adjustment for confounding factors (e. g., clinical stage) using a proportionalhazard model. The estimated survival probability for women with Quetelet index of 20 was about 12% higher than that with Quetelet index of 24 over a 10‐year or more follow‐up period. Other variables exhibiting prognostic importance were clinical stage, TNM classification, and some histological findings, while height and reproductive life indicators were, as a rule, not significantly related to survival. Copyright © 1990 Wiley‐Liss, Inc., A Wiley Company