DELAY, STAGE OF DISEASE AND SURVIVAL FROM BREAST-CANCER

An investigation of 1784 cases of histologically confirmed breast cancer reported to the Lakes Area Regional Tumor Service Registry was conducted to examine the effect of delay, age, availability of physicians, stage of disease and marital status upon length of survival. Significant relationships were found between length of delay and extent of disease, length of delay and length of survival, extent of disease and length of survival as well as between age and survival. Patients residing in areas having fewer than one physician per 4000 population demonstrated poorer survival than patients from areas having one or more physicians per 4000 population. A regression analysis employing a Cox modeling technique showed stage of disease, length of delay, and age to be significant predictors of survival. Delay by patients was found to affect survival through its influence upon the extent of disease at the time of diagnosis. These findings provide qualified support for efforts directed toward early detection and treatment. They imply that reducing delay may have a favorable impact upon prognosis for a portion of breast cancer patients. © 1979.