Mortality after breast cancer as a function of time since diagnosis by estrogen receptor status and age at diagnosis

Abstract

Our aim was to estimate how long-term mortality following breast cancer diagnosis depends on age at diagnosis, tumor estrogen receptor (ER) status, and the time already survived. We used the population-based Australian Breast Cancer Family Study which followed-up 1,196 women enrolled during 1992–1999 when aged <60 years at diagnosis with a first primary invasive breast cancer, over-sampled for younger ages at diagnosis, for whom tumor pathology features and ER status were measured. There were 375 deaths (median follow-up = 15.7; range = 0.8–21.4, years). We estimated the mortality hazard as a function of time since diagnosis using a flexible parametric survival analysis with ER status a time..