Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32472445›Full record

ReviewJournal of cancer research and clinical oncology2020

Breast cancer: are long-term and intermittent endocrine therapies equally effective?

Jutta Engel, Gabriele Schubert-Fritschle, Rebecca Emeny, Dieter Hölzel

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. A Systematic Review of Artificial Intelligence Techniques in Cancer Prediction and Diagnosis.Archives of computational methods in engineering : state of the art reviews · 2022
    Review
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Jutta EngelMunich Cancer Registry (MCR), Institute for Medical Information Processing, Biometry and Epidemiology (IBE), Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU), 81377, Munich, Germany.
Gabriele Schubert-FritschleMunich Cancer Registry (MCR), Institute for Medical Information Processing, Biometry and Epidemiology (IBE), Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU), 81377, Munich, Germany.
Rebecca EmenyThe Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, 03756, USA.
Dieter HölzelMunich Cancer Registry (MCR), Institute for Medical Information Processing, Biometry and Epidemiology (IBE), Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU), 81377, Munich, Germany. hoe@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2633-0118

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeIn breast cancer (BC), the duration of endocrine adjuvant therapies (AT) has been extended continuously up to 10 years. We present an alternative explanation for the effect, which could enable shorter treatments.

methodThe relevant literature on chemoprevention and (neo-)adjuvant therapy was reviewed. Data for initiation and growth of primary and contralateral BCs and their metastases (MET) were considered. Also, population-based data from the Munich Cancer Registry for MET-free survival, time trends of MET patterns, and survival achieved by improved ATs are used to estimate all events in the long-term follow-up.

resultsExtended ATs (EAT) that continue after 1, 2, or 5 years reduce mortality only slightly. The effect is delayed, occurring more than 5 years after extension. EATs does not affect the prognosis of 1stBCs, they preventively eradicate contralateral 2ndBCs and thus their future life-threatening METs. Because chemoprevention can eradicate BCs from the smallest clusters to almost detectable BCs, ATs can be temporarily suspended without imposing harm. Results equal to EATs can be achieved by short-term ATs of the 1stBC and by repeated neo-ATs targeted at the indefinitely developing 2ndBCs. Considering this potential in de-escalation, a 70-80% reduction of overtreatment seems possible.

conclusionKnowledge of initiation and growth of tumors with known effects of neo-ATs suggest that intermittent endocrine ATs may achieve the same results as EATs but with improved quality of life and survival because of fewer side effects and better compliance. The challenge for developments of repeated ATs becomes: how short is short enough.

Indexed as

AgedAntineoplastic Agents, HormonalBreast NeoplasmsChemotherapy, AdjuvantFemaleHumansMeta-Analysis as TopicMiddle AgedNeoplasm MetastasisRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicAntineoplastic Agents, HormonalBreast cancerLong-term endocrine adjuvant therapyMetastasisOver-treatmentSurvival

Identifiers

PMID32472445
PMCPMC7324413

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.