Associate Professor Chungbuk National University Hospital
Introduction This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of different surveillance intensities on the morbidity and mortality of women with breast cancer.
Material and Methods This was a retrospective study of patients who had received surgery for breast cancer between 2009 and 2011 in South Korea. We assessed the intensity of surveillance based on four categories: (1) local recurrence within five years post-surgery, (2) local recurrence after five years post-surgery, (3) distant metastasis within five years post-surgery, and (4) distant metastasis after five years post-surgery.
Results We identified 1,356 patients and the median follow-up period was 121.2 months. In the survival analysis of the surveillance of local recurrence after five years post-surgery, the intensive surveillance group (ISG) had better overall survival (OS) and local recurrence-free survival (LRFS) compared to the less-intensive surveillance group (LSG). In multivariate Cox-regression analysis, the ISG had a better prognosis compared to the LSG in both OS and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) with respect to local recurrence within five years post-surgery. However, there was no significant difference in the OS and DMFS between the two groups in the surveillance of distant metastasis after five years post-surgery.
Conclusions The ISG had a better prognosis compared to the LSG when categorizing groups based on the surveillance of local recurrence. However, the ISG was not associated with a better prognosis in the surveillance of distant metastasis after five years post-surgery. More research in this regard is required through nationwide randomized studies.