Estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer in Japanese women: trends in incidence, characteristics, and prognosis

Background: The incidence of breast cancer in Japanese women has doubled in all age groups over the past two decades. Patients and methods: We examined the characteristics of the tumors treated in three time periods between 1982 and 2010. Estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PgR) and HER2 status were assessed by immunohistochemistry. Correlation of hormone receptor levels with clinicopathological factors and prognosis was analyzed in ER-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer in two age groups (≤50 years versus >50 years). Results: The frequency of ER-positive breast cancer in women aged 50 years or younger increased greatly over the interval studied (1982–1991: 52.5%, 1992–2001: 72.6%, 2002–2010: 87.1%, P < 0.0001). The frequency of ER-positive tumors also significantly increased in women over 50 years of age (1982–1991: 69.4%, 1992–2001: 73.3%, 2002–2010: 78.6%, P = 0.029). In ER-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, tumor grade was negatively correlated with expression levels of ER and PgR. Prognosis for patients with ER-positive, HER2-negative disease significantly improved over time, due to advances in adjuvant therapies. Conclusion: It is necessary to establish risk factors, both genetic and environmental, capable of predicting the risk of ER-positive breast cancer and thus enable the efficient selection of candidates for hormone receptor-targeted chemoprevention.