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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Breast cancer patients with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive tumors may stand a better chance of surviving breast cancer than those with ER-negative tumors, according to the results of a recent study.
Researchers from the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., report the breast cancer mortality rate in the United States decreased by 24 percent between 1990 and 2003. According to the study, women under age 70 who were diagnosed with ER-positive tumors saw a 38-percent decrease in mortality, while women with ER-negative tumors saw only a 19-percent decrease. The mortality rate in women with ER-positive tumors over 70 years old declined 14-percent, while women with ER-negative tumors saw no decline.
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Researchers suggest death rates among patients with ER-positive tumors may be lower due to widespread use of screening mammography, which helps in the early detection of slow-growing tumors that tend to be ER-positive. According to Ismail Jotou, M.D., PhD., lead study author and director of the Breast Cancer Center in the Department of Surgery at the National Naval Medical Center, decreased mortality rates in ER-positive breast cancer patients could also result from the use of tamoxifen following surgery, which significantly reduces the risk of cancer recurrence in ER-positive tumors.
Although breast cancer mortality rates have declined in recent years, researchers report the death toll is still too high. Study authors suggest additional research should be focused on helping breast cancer patients who have ER-negative tumors.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2007; 25:1-8
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