Breast cancer in Western Australia: clinical practice and clinical guidelines

To review changes in patterns of care for women with early invasive breast cancer in Western Australia from 1989 to 1999, and compare management with recommendations in the 1995 National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines.

Population-based surveys of all cases listed in the Western Australian Cancer Registry and Western Australian Hospital Morbidity Data System.

Congruence of care with guidelines.

Data were available for 1649 women with early invasive breast cancer (categories pT1or pT2; pN0 or pN1; and M0). In 1999, 96% had a preoperative diagnosis by fine-needle aspiration or core biopsy (compared with 66% in 1989), with a synoptic pathology report on 95%. Breast-conserving surgery was used for 66% of women with mammographically detected tumours (v 35% in 1989) and 46% of those with clinically detected tumours (v 28% in 1989), with radiotherapy to the conserved breast in 90% of these cases (83% in 1989). Adjuvant chemotherapy was given to 92% of premenopausal women with node-positive disease and 63% with poor-prognosis node-negative tumours (v 78% and 14%, respectively, in 1989). Among postmenopausal women with receptor-positive tumours, tamoxifen was prescribed for 91% of those with positive nodes (85% in 1989) and 79% of those with negative nodes (30% in 1989). Among postmenopausal women with receptor-negative tumours, chemotherapy was prescribed for 70% with positive nodes (v 33%) and 58% with negative nodes (v none).

Patterns of management of women with early invasive breast cancer in Western Australia during the 1990s changed significantly in all respects toward those recommended in the 1995 guidelines.