metastatic breast cancer were initially diagnosed with earlier-stage cancer. “That’s really important information,” Reffey said. “We need more-focused research into preventing those recurrences.”
Lead study author Angela Mariotto agreed.
The findings shine a light on a group of cancer patients who’ve “never been properly documented before,” said Mariotto, a researcher with the U.S. National Cancer Institute.
How Much Longer Are Women Living?
The study did find some encouraging trends, she noted: Survival among women initially diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer is improving – especially those diagnosed before age 65.
In the early 1990s, women diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer before age 50 typically lived for 22 months. By 2012, that had increased to about 39 months.
There was a similar pattern among women diagnosed between the ages of 50 and 64: Their typical survival rose from 19 months in the early 1990s to almost 30 months in 2012.
More women are also surviving for prolonged periods, the study found. Among women diagnosed before age 50, the five-year survival rate doubled between 1992 and 2012 – from 18 percent to 36 percent.
Those figures come from a U.S. surveillance system that