[Size of breast cancer at the time of initial diagnosis]

To observe whether patients with breast cancer of an epithelial strain consult physician with a less advanced disease, the patients attended by the Valencian Interhospital Group were studied between January 1981 and December 1990.

The same diagnosis of disease spread (anamnesis, physical examination, blood analysis and imaging techniques of the thorax, bones and liver) was carried out in all cases. Surgical techniques and histopathologic criteria were homogenous throughout the study. The classification used was that of the International Union Against Cancer of 1987. Histopathologic correlations were studied.

Seven hundred seventy-nine patients with a mean age of 57.3 years (range: 24-85) were studied. A statistically significant (S) progressive reduction in the size of the tumor was observed (p less than 0.003) with the percentage of stage II progressively increasing and stage IIIa (more advanced disease than stage II) parallelly diminishing (p less than 0.0019) (S). In patients over the age of 55 this diminution was not observed. To the contrary, more advanced stages (stage IIIb--locally advanced, and stage IV--metastatic disease) were presented than in younger women (p = 0.000) (S). There is a direct correlation between the size of the tumor, the degree of tumoral differentiation and lymphatic metastases.

Patients under the age of 55 spontaneously and progressively consult the physician with a less advanced breast cancer. This is expected to have beneficial effects on survival. It is suggested that primary medicine may play a fundamental role in making women more aware of breast cancer, particularly those over 55 years of age regardless of early detection campaigns.