Survival after breast cancer treatment: the impact of provider volume

Research has not paid sufficient attention to the need for adequate case-mix adjustment in studies of the relationship between provider volume and performance. This study attempted to address this limitation by capturing and including 5-year survival outcomes and a wide range of case-mix variables in multivariate analyses of the volume-outcome relationship relating to breast cancer treatments.

All patients diagnosed with invasive primary breast cancer during 1996 (n = 809) were included. Patient, disease and treatment data were extracted from medical records; survival data were corroborated using official death registrations. A Cox proportional hazards approach was used to model relationships between patient, disease and service variables and risk of death.

There were 262 deaths among 807 patients followed up; overall 5-year survival was 70%. Advancing age, higher levels of co-morbidity, late-stage disease, more positive nodes, and high-grade tumour were independently associated with lower survival (P < 0.05). Patients who received hormonal therapy (HR 0.50, 95% CI 0.28-0.89) and radiotherapy (HR 0.73, 95% CI 0.53-1.03) had a survival advantage. Using a cut-off point of > or =30 cases per annum, survival was lower for patients treated in low volume settings (HR 1.47, 95% CI 1.09-1.96) after adjustment for case mix.

There was some evidence to support treatment in high volume settings although patient and disease variables were the major determinants of survival for patients with breast cancer.