Patterns of recurrence in Western and Japanese women with breast cancer.

The patterns of relapse in Western women with breast cancer were compared with women from Japan. The results reported are based on a review of the literature. A significant difference between Japanese and Western women was seen with regard to relapse in bone, lung, and liver as assessed clinically. More Western women had bone metastases, but the incidence of pulmonary and liver metastases was higher in Japanese women. A significant difference between the races was also seen with regard to locoregional recurrence of disease, with Japanese women showing a higher incidence of relapse in the supraclavicular lymph nodes compared to Western women. Postmortem studies showed that although the initial metastatic pattern may differ between Japanese and Western women, at time of death the disease is as widely disseminated in the former as it is in the latter.