New findings for breast cancer survivors (2/15/2008)

New findings from a clinical trial coordinated at Queen's University show that women who survive breast cancer - the most common form of cancer among Canadian women - are more likely to die from other causes. The results were particularly striking for older women.

Led by Community Health and Epidemiology professor Judith-Anne Chapman, the study analyzes results from a landmark breast cancer clinical trial completed in 2003, involving more than 5,000 post-menopausal participants. The trial, called MA.17, was coordinated by the Queen's-based National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group, for which Dr. Chapman is a senior biostatistician.

As breast cancer treatments improve, patients are surviving longer and many are dying of causes unrelated to breast cancer, notes Dr. Chapman. Her group investigated whether certain factors, such as pre-existing diseases, are associated with the risk of death from breast cancer, other cancers, or causes other than cancer.

They found that women with pre-existing heart disease are more likely to die of non-cancer causes, while women with pre-existing osteoporosis are at greater risk of dying from cancers other than breast cancer. Women are more likely to die from breast cancer if cancer cells have spread to the lymph nodes.

When age is factored in, the study shows that older women are more likely to die of other causes. While 60 per cent of women in the trial died of causes not related to breast cancer, this figure jumped to 72 per cent among women 70 years and older.

For breast cancer patients with heart disease, there are implications around the type of cancer therapy they receive, says Dr. Chapman. "Our study underscores the need, especially in older women, to pay more attention to the potential for death from causes other than breast cancer."

Also on the research team, from Queen's, are: Lois Shepherd (Pathology and Molecular Medicine), Wendy Parulekar (Oncology), and Michael Palmer and Changhong Yu (Clinical Trials Group). Their findings are published on-line in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Funded by the Canadian Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group, develops, conducts and analyzes national and international trials of cancer therapy, including trials for new cancer drugs, cancer prevention and supportive care to improve quality of life for people with cancer. Since its inception in 1971, the NCIC CTG has enrolled more than 40,000 patients from Canada and around the world in over 300 clinical trials.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by Queen's University

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