[Postoperative radiotherapy treatment of early breast cancer].

Postoperative radiotherapy (RT) is an important part of the multidisciplinary treatment of early breast cancer. Meta-analyses of large randomized trials of RT after lumpectomy and mastectomy have shown that RT reduces the risk of local recurrence with at least 70% and mortality after 15 years with 5%. The effect is most pronounced in patients with a high risk of local recurrence, but is independent of adjuvant systemic treatment.

[Descriptive epidemiology: development of incidence over time, geographical and social differences, risk factors, etc].

Breast cancer is the most frequent malignant disease in Danish women, with 4,006 incident cases and 1,333 deaths in 2001. The incidence has increased since approximately 1960, while mortality has remained relatively stable. In the era before implementation of mammography screening, there was a 20% regional and a 50% socioeconomic difference in both incidence and mortality.

[Breast cancer--a lifestyle disease?].

The incidence of breast cancer in Denmark has increased about 2-3% every year in the past decades. In this review the established risk factors for the disease are presented and the changes over time in these factors are described. It is concluded that a large part of the rise in incidence can be explained by changes in established risk factors.