The stage of BC was determined by the American Joint Committee on Cancer staging system AJCC (seventh edition) using the information on tumour size (T) and nodal status (N) and metastasis (M) [17 (link)]. Two observations were used in this regard: TNM staging at the time of diagnosis and the last follow-up to see if there was a progression of the disease. Tumour size was primarily ascertained by clinical examination of the oncologist. If that documentation was not available, the information was obtained from surgical pathology reports. Data on histological type and nuclear grading were also obtained from surgical pathology reports.
Patients with non-metastatic BC were treated with eight cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy consisting of four cycles of AC (adriamycin + cyclophosphamide) and four cycles of taxol. Those with metastatic BC are treated with six cycles of AC. The current status of patients (alive or deceased) was confirmed by telephone. For those not available by telephone, the survival status was collected from the medical chart by checking whether the patient had a follow-up visit 3 months after the end date of the study period; if this was the case, the patient was considered alive.
Patients with non-metastatic BC were treated with eight cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy consisting of four cycles of AC (adriamycin + cyclophosphamide) and four cycles of taxol. Those with metastatic BC are treated with six cycles of AC. The current status of patients (alive or deceased) was confirmed by telephone. For those not available by telephone, the survival status was collected from the medical chart by checking whether the patient had a follow-up visit 3 months after the end date of the study period; if this was the case, the patient was considered alive.
Free full text: Click here
