Medical management of advanced disease

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most common cancer site in women in the world with 1.15 million new cases, of which 3,61,000 are in Europe and 2,30,000 in North America (Parkin et al. 2005). In 2002, 4,11,000 women died of breast cancer worldwide. For women aged 65 years and older, breast cancer incidence rates are 432.7 per 1,00,000 females in North America and 295.0 per 1,00,000 in Europe; corresponding breast cancer mortality figures are 121.2 and 135.0 per 1,00,000 females, respectively. About a third of the global breast cancer cases occur in patients above age 65, and in more developed countries this is more than 40%. Breast cancer can recur many years after the initial diagnosis and treatment, so within the metastatic breast cancer population, the percentage of elderly women will be even higher. © 2010 Springer-Verlag London.