Abstract
Resection of a transplanted mouse breast cancer cures two to three times as many mice if it is performed during the periovulatory span rather than in the early follicular phase of the mouse's fertility cycle. Ten retrospective studies of 2287 women demonstrate an average 25% 10-year disease-free or overall survival advantage to the resection of a cycling woman's breast cancer in the early luteal phase of her menstrual cycle. Several studies have discerned no outcome difference, regardless of the timing of resection within the cycle. The objectives of this article are to enhance understanding of some mechanisms by which sex hormones may modulate postresection metastatic spread, to make the case for adequate prospective study of this biology to determine whether and to what extent the timing of an operation within the menstrual cycle might affect long-term breast cancer control in the premenopausal woman, and to delineate the essential elements of such a prospective study.
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