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Incidence and tumour stages of breast cancer in the region of Aachen, Germany.

We present epidemiological data of female breast cancer in the region of Aachen (Germany) including incidence and tumour stages for the period 1996-1997. Furthermore, we compare epidemiological data from Aachen with data from the directly neighbouring Dutch region South-Middle Limburg before and after the introduction of a national mammographic screening programme. The field study of breast cancer was undertaken at the Institute of Pathology and Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Aachen, supported by the Federal Ministry of Health (Germany), using data files from the Cancer Registry Aachen. The patient's consent to collect all data concerning her epidemiological and social situation as well as information on the outcome of disease was obtained in 83.4% of all cases. The remaining 16.6% of the cases without a patient's consent are based on histopathological reports. Only those patients are included who were documented as residing in the region of Aachen at the time of diagnosis. Tumour cases were counted according to International Agency for Research on Cancer rules and tumour stages are classified according to UICC guidelines. Incidence rates are calculated as crude value, adapted to the European and World Standard population (ESR, WSR), and the age specific incidence is presented in 5-year intervals. The cumulative risk is assessed for a certain life span by summarizing the age-specific incidences. The age-standardized breast cancer incidence rate in Aachen was 94 per 100 000 women in 1996 and 90 cases of invasive breast cancer per 100 000 women in 1997 according to the ESR. The cumulative risk of developing breast cancer in the life span ranging from 0 to 74 years is approximately 8%. The stage distribution of breast cancer reveals only 4% favourable carcinomata in situ, but 12% advanced T4 tumours. T1 and T2 tumour stages count for about 40% and T3 tumour stages about 4%. Incidence rates and the tumour stages of breast cancer in the region of Aachen during 1996 and 1997 are similar to the data obtained from the directly neighbouring Cancer Center of the region South-Middle Limburg, in the Netherlands, in 1989/1990 before the beginning of the national breast cancer screening programme. However, major differences are found in terms of the incidence and the tumour stages between Aachen 1996/1997 and South-Middle Limburg 1995/1996 after the introduction of the mammographic screening. The incidence of female breast cancer in Aachen, Germany, was high and in the range of the data from other cancer registries in Europe without national screening programmes. The tumour stages at diagnosis in Aachen were not very favourable, especially in elderly women. An increase of the cancer incidence and a shift of the tumour stages to more favourable ones were observed in the neighbouring Dutch region of South-Middle Limburg, comparing data from 1989/90 and 1995/96. This is probably as a result of the national mammographic screening programme. As data from Aachen were similar to Limburg's data from 1989/90 before the mammographic screening was introduced, it will be important to follow and compare the cancer incidence and the tumour stages in the future.