The effect of female sex hormones on cancer survival: a register-based study in patients younger than 20 years at diagnosis

Article Abstract:

In general, women with cancer have a more optimistic prognosis than men, and breast cancer that occurs before menopause is less life-threatening than breast cancer that develops afterward. Previous reports point to a protective effect of female hormones regarding the development of cancer. To better evaluate this issue, a case review studied 6,262 people first diagnosed with cancer when they were 20 years of age or younger. The cases had been reported, as required, to the National Board of Health and Welfare in Sweden between 1958 and 1984. Patients were followed-up until death, emigration, or the end of the study (1984). Breast cancers and cancers of male or female reproductive organs were not included. Results revealed different five-year survival rates for males and females at different ages. The five-year survival rate was 4 percent higher in females younger than 10 years of age, 9 percent higher from ages 10 to 14, and 15 percent higher in females between 15 to 19 years of age. Females had a lower overall cancer death rate than males (22 percent lower); the disparity became even greater when a subset of cancers was removed from the analysis. The death rate resulting from tumors of the nervous system, leukemia and lymphoma did not depend on the age when males and females were diagnosed, but there was a strong age effect for sarcomas; women diagnosed after the age of 13 had improved survival. Women with lymphoma and leukemia had a better overall prognosis, but it was not significantly related to the age at diagnosis. For epithelial cancers, which comprise most other types of cancer, males and females had similar death rates before the age of 11; but, between 11 and 19, mortality for females was 55 to 65 percent lower than that of males. It appears that age at the time of diagnosis is an important factor in determining differences between male and female cancer survival rates, and that sexual maturity and female sex hormones may play an important role in the development of cancer. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Health aspects, Research, Case studies, Sweden, Sex factors in disease, Disease sex factors, Cancer in children, Childhood cancer, Age factors in disease, Disease age factors, Hormone research, Hormones, Sex, Sex hormones

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High 10-year survival rate in patients with early, untreated prostatic cancer

Article Abstract:

Patients with early-stage prostate cancer that is initially untreated may have a high chance of long-term survival. Of 223 patients with early-stage, untreated prostate cancer who were followed for an average of 123 months (over 10 years), 76 (34%) had progression of prostate cancer, 26 (12%) had prostate cancer that spread to other parts of their body, and 19 (8.5%) died from prostate cancer. Among the 76 patients who had progression of prostate cancer, 16 were treated with hormone therapy, and 48 underwent surgery. Treatment with hormone therapy was generally successful among the 50 patients who had local progression of the cancer. Of 124 patients who died, 105 (85%) died from causes unrelated to prostate cancer. Progression of prostate cancer was highest during the first five years after diagnosis. Among these patients, the 10-year survival rate was 86.8%, and the 10-year survival rate without disease progression was 53.1%.

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Fifteen-year survival in prostate cancer: a prospective, population-based study in Sweden

Article Abstract:

Aggressive treatment of men with localized prostate cancer that has not metastasized is probably unnecessary. Researchers followed 642 Swedish men diagnosed with prostate cancer between 1977 and 1984 up until 1994. Only 11% of those with localized disease died of prostate cancer. The 15-year survival rate of 81% was the same in those who never received treatment as in those who did receive treatment. The 15-year survival rate of those with advanced cancer at diagnosis and those with metastatic cancer at diagnosis was 57% and 6%, respectively. These men would benefit from aggressive treatment.

Prognosis

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