Natural Growth Rate of Primary Breast Cancer and its Metastases

摘要: Patients suffering from breast diseases generally die when metastatic spread into the bloodstream occurs. When distant metastases become clinically manifest survival rates are about same with various types of palliative therapy. Wide individual differences can be observed, however, in interval between diagnosis primary tumor and development local recurrences detection metastases. This varies zero (distant present at time diagnosis) to more than 30 years, Brinkley Haybittle [6,7] showed that after a follow-up 25 81.5% women had died cancer, leaving only 18.5% still alive. As does not necessarily begin preoperatively, wide observed take reach detectable size. is primarily due two following growth behaviors metastases: 1. The net varies; it may extremely slow because cell loss. far as speed whole concerned, no significant changes observed; this behavior represented by relatively uniform exponential function. 2. The cells very heterogeneous. After period dormancy suddenly grow rapidly change host-tumor relation. heterogeneity seems most important early stage (100–1000 cells). At (several hundred thousand cells), differing thought play minor role.