Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39961969›Full record

ArticleBreast cancer research and treatment2025

Prolonged time to breast cancer surgery and the risk of metastasis: an explorative simulation analysis using epidemiological data from Germany and the USA.

D Hölzel, A Schlesinger-Raab, G Schubert-Fritschle, K Halfter

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Article in Breast cancer research and treatment, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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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

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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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

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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.

D Hölzel *Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Medical Information Processing, Biometry and Epidemiology (IBE), LMU Munich, Marchioninistraße 15, 81377, Munich, Germany.
A Schlesinger-Raab *Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Medical Information Processing, Biometry and Epidemiology (IBE), LMU Munich, Marchioninistraße 15, 81377, Munich, Germany.
G Schubert-FritschleFaculty of Medicine, Institute of Medical Information Processing, Biometry and Epidemiology (IBE), LMU Munich, Marchioninistraße 15, 81377, Munich, Germany.
K HalfterFaculty of Medicine, Institute of Medical Information Processing, Biometry and Epidemiology (IBE), LMU Munich, Marchioninistraße 15, 81377, Munich, Germany. halfter@ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5974-8959

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeGrowing breast cancer is associated with an inherent risk of metastasis. If surgical treatment of breast cancer is delayed, the prognosis worsens with increasing tumor size. This justifies the search for a safe time interval between diagnosis and surgery.

methodsThe 2022 population-based data on incidence and the time interval to initial surgery for the United States (U.S.) and Germany are used. Tumor growth and initiation of metastases can be calculated using public data on hormone receptor status, volume doubling time, and tumor size-dependent relative survival. Our assumptions are based on an initial 19.8 mm mean tumor size. 15-year BC-specific mortality in both countries is assumed to be 19.6% without surgical delay. Volume doubling time stratified by hormone receptor status, assumed to be continuous may differ by a factor of 2.4.

resultsThe U.S. and Germany report 287,850/71,375 new breast cancers for the year 2022 and 2019. If tumor removal is delayed by 8 weeks, mortality rate increases by 2.25/4.79% (HR + /HR-) as estimated by our model. The currently reported mean delay in the U.S. and Germany of 33.7/26.0 days or 4.8/3.7 weeks, respectively, would lead to an estimated 4,676/918 additional BC deaths or a 1.6/1.2% rise in the 15-year BC-specific mortality rate.

conclusionsThis study offers reasonable evidence that confirmed cases of breast cancer should be prioritized and treated according to hormone receptor status and tumor size as soon as possible. Effective screening measures should be followed by timely treatment.

Indexed as

Breast NeoplasmsTime-to-TreatmentAdultAgedComputer SimulationFemaleGermanyHumansIncidenceMastectomyMiddle AgedNeoplasm MetastasisPrognosisRisk FactorsTime FactorsUnited StatesBreast cancerLong-term follow-upMetastasisSurgeryTreatment delay

Identifiers

PMID39961969
PMCPMC11953083

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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.