A Canadian population-based study, published online July 23 in Cancer, found that survival among women diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) in British Columbia has improved over the past decade, and that this appeared to be related to the introduction of several new therapeutic agents for MBC during the 1990s.

Researchers from the British Columbia Cancer Agency (BCCA) analyzed data from 2,150 women in the Canadian province who were diagnosed and treated in 1 of 4 "time cohorts" spanning the 1990s. The earliest cohort (1991-1992) was the baseline, while subsequent cohorts were matched against the introduction of new agents for MBC: (1994-1995) paclitaxel and vinorelbine; (1997- 998) aromatase inhibitors and docetaxel; and (1999-2001) trastuzumab and capecitabine.

"There was a significant improvement in survival for women with MBC over time," the scientists reported. "Although there was no difference between the first two cohorts, the later two cohorts had significant improvements in overall survival." The median survival for patients in cohorts 1 through 4 was 436 days, 450 days, 564 days, and 661 days, respectively. "Survival of women who were diagnosed with MBC in [British Columbia] in the later part of the 1990s improved by approximately 30 percent compared with a similar cohort of women who were diagnosed in the early and middle parts of the 1990s," they added.

"Although MBC still is an incurable disease, this study provides optimism for those women who are diagnosed with MBC today and should provide enthusiasm and evidence that continued research to discover better therapies may translate into further improvements in outcome in the future," they concluded.