Korean Breast Cancer Data of 1996

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Abstract

BACKGROUNDS: In Korea, breast cancer is the third most common cancer in women, and the incidence continues to increase.
METHODS
Between January 1996 and December 1996, the Korean Breast Cancer Study Group collected the data from new breast cancer patients who were treated at 32 university hospitals and 24 general hospitals nationwide.
RESULTS
Of the total 3,801 patients, breast cancer occurred in 3,788 female patients (99.7%) and 13 male patients (0.3%), and the crude incidence rate of female breast cancer was 16.7 per 100,000 women per year. The age-specific incidences of female breast cancer were 1,360 (36.0%) for 40 to 49 years of age, 948 (25.1%) for 50 to 59 years, 837 (22.0%) for 30 to 39 years, 391 (10.3%) for 60 to 69 years, 119 (3.1%) for 70 to 79 years, 114 (3.0%) for 20 to 29 years, 9 (0.2%) for over 80 years, and 3 (0.07%) for 10 to 19 years. Conservation treatments of breast cancer patients were performed in 712 cases (18.7%), a modified radical mastectomy in 2,884 cases (76.1%), a simple mastectomy in 71 cases (1.9%). Among mastectomy patients, immediate breast reconstruction was performed in 5.2% (54/1,031).According to the TNM staging system, there were 142 (4.2%) with stage 0, 661 (19.6%) with stage I, 1,201 (35.5%) with stage IIA, 805 (23.8%) with stage IIB, 409 (12.1%) with stage IIIA, 98 (2.9%) with stage IIIB, and 64 (1.9%) with stage IV. The most common pathologic type of breast cancer was infiltrating ductal carcinoma, 1,179 cases (89.7%). DCIS occurred in 55 cases (4.2%), invasive lobular carcinoma in 50 (3.8%), and LCIS in 5 (0.4%). According to the WHO classification of invasive ductal carcinoma, there were 719 (74.3%) invasive ductal carcinoma NOS, 132 (13.6%) invasive and intraductal predominant carcinomas, 38 (3.9%) medullary carcinomas, 19 (2.1%) comedo-type carcinomas, 18 (1.9%) mucinous carcinomas, 14 (1.5%) tubular carcinomas, and 13 (1.4%) papillary carcinomas, 8 (0.8%) inflammatory carcinomas, and 5 (0.5%) scirrhous carcinomas.
CONCLUSIONS
We, all the members of the Korean Breast Cancer Study Group, believe that it was very useful to join the nationwide collection of 1996 Korean breast cancer data, and we think that we have accomplished the purposes of study, which were to establish baseline data on Korean breast cancer, to share the same classification of staging and pathology, to establish intimate relationships between members by participating in the same job.