TY - JOUR

T1 - Equity and improvement in outcome of breast cancer in Denmark.

AU - Andreasen, A H

AU - Mouridsen, H T

AU - Andersen, K W

AU - Lynge, E

AU - Madsen, Mette

AU - Olesen, K P

N1 - Keywords: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Breast Neoplasms; Cohort Studies; Denmark; Ethics, Medical; Female; Humans; Medical Informatics Applications; Middle Aged; Outcome Assessment (Health Care); Prognosis; Registries; Survival Analysis

PY - 1994

Y1 - 1994

N2 - The trend in the prognosis for female breast cancer patients was investigated by comparing Kaplan-Meier survival curves of different patient cohorts diagnosed during the period 1948-87. The study is based on 71,448 patients from the Danish Cancer Registry. The cohorts were defined by age at diagnosis, year of diagnosis, and residential area. The survival time from diagnosis nearly doubled from 1948-57 to 1978-87, the most important improvement taking place after 1978. Patients diagnosed in 1948-77 in the Copenhagen area had a far better prognosis than patients diagnosed during this period in other parts of Denmark. For patients diagnosed in 1978-87 the prognosis, however, reached an equal level in all parts of the country. Thus, it is reasonable to assume that the national programme introduced in 1977 by the Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group (DBCG) has played an important role and not only brought about therapeutic improvements in breast cancer treatment in Denmark, but also ensured equity in the outcome on a national scale.

AB - The trend in the prognosis for female breast cancer patients was investigated by comparing Kaplan-Meier survival curves of different patient cohorts diagnosed during the period 1948-87. The study is based on 71,448 patients from the Danish Cancer Registry. The cohorts were defined by age at diagnosis, year of diagnosis, and residential area. The survival time from diagnosis nearly doubled from 1948-57 to 1978-87, the most important improvement taking place after 1978. Patients diagnosed in 1948-77 in the Copenhagen area had a far better prognosis than patients diagnosed during this period in other parts of Denmark. For patients diagnosed in 1978-87 the prognosis, however, reached an equal level in all parts of the country. Thus, it is reasonable to assume that the national programme introduced in 1977 by the Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group (DBCG) has played an important role and not only brought about therapeutic improvements in breast cancer treatment in Denmark, but also ensured equity in the outcome on a national scale.

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 10163693

VL - 14

SP - 27

EP - 38

JO - Studies in Health Technology and Informatics

JF - Studies in Health Technology and Informatics

SN - 0926-9630

ER -