Characteristics of women with short survival after diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer

Despite therapeutic advances, overall survival of metastatic breast cancer (MBC) at the population level has seen little improvement over the past decades. A retrospective population-based study in Sweden aimed to quantify and characterize women with short survival after MBC diagnosis. The study found that nearly one out of six patients with MBC survived less than 3 months after diagnosis. In multivariable analysis older age, calendar period of diagnosis, metastasis site, adjuvant chemotherapy, and primary tumor grade were independent predictors of short survival.