[Frequency of second tumors in breast cancer]

A retrospective study was made on the secondary tumor rate of 919 patients treated for mammary carcinoma during the period of 1966 to 1975 at the Knappschafts-Krankenhaus Recklinghausen. Compared to the age and tumor specific incidence, the risk of a secondary mammary carcinoma was 5.5 times higher for those patients suffering from a mammary carcinoma at less than 50 years. Patients with primary mammary carcinoma beyond the age of 50 had no increased incidence of secondary carcinomas compared to the female population without tumor anamnesis. Despite a slightly increased coincidence with cutaneous neoplasias, the rate of secondary malignomas developed in the following years is not essentially increased as compared with normal population.