[The 4th large meta-analysis of all trials of the treatment of operable breast cancer: increased survival after a longer follow-up]

Abstract

The Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group (EBCTCG) was founded in 1983. The EBCTCG coordinates the quinquennial worldwide meta-analyses of centrally located data on women in all randomised trials of early breast cancer. This 4th meta-analysis, with a follow-up of 15 years, showed an increased survival after the use of adjuvant hormonal or chemotherapy. The EBCTCG analyses have been responsible for major changes in the treatment of breast cancer in the past. However, we do not need another meta-analysis before implementing, for example, the improvement of chemotherapy with taxoids and the improvement of hormonal treatment with aromatase inhibitors. Nowadays, new treatments are implemented before the 5-year follow-up and are aimed more specifically at certain tumour characteristics.