Symptom duration, tumor staging and survival in patients with carcinoma of the breast.

Between 1950 and 1980, 435 patients were operated upon for carcinoma of the breast. Symptom duration data were available for 402 patients. Fifty-three of the patients had preoperative symptoms for less than one one week; 113, for one week to one month; 144, for one to six months and 92, for six months or more. Tumor staging was available on 353 of the 402 patients. With increasing peroperative symptom duration, there was an increase in the incidence of Stage IV tumors, p=0.003, and a reduction in Stage I tumors, p=0.006. Cancer specific survival time was better for the total patient series and for those treated by potentially curative operation when symptoms had been present for one week or less as compared with those who had symptom duration of six months or more, p=0.007. Survival prospects were also better in those patients who had symptoms from one week to one month as compared with those who had six months or more symptom duration, p=0.005. These results indicate that patients in whom diagnosis is made and operation performed early in the symptomatic phase of carcinoma of the breast have less advanced tumors and better survival prospects.