J Breast Cancer.  2006 Dec;9(4):323-329. 10.4048/jbc.2006.9.4.323.

Clinical significance of age for premenopausal women with primary breast cancer

• Kang BM
• Jung JH
• Lim YS
• Park HY
• Lee YH

• KMID: 2286604
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4048/jbc.2006.9.4.323

Abstract

PURPOSE: Breast carcinoma in young patients has been reported to present with more aggressive biologic characteristics and to behave poorer compared with the disease in older patients. However, the association between the age and the prognosis in premenopausal patients has rarely been reported on. This study aimed to reveal the clinicopathologic characteristics and prognostic significance of young age (age< or =35) for the breast cancer of premenopausal women.
METHODS
We retrospectively analyzed 1033 premenopausal women with breast cancer who underwent surgery in our institution between 1985 and 2003. A total of 180 patients were aged >35 years (the younger premenopausal group) and 853 patients were aged >35 years (the older premenopausal group). The clinicopathologic characteristics and treatment outcomes were compared between the younger and older groups.
RESULTS
Compared to the older premenopausal group, the younger group showed earlier menarche (15.2+/-19 years old versus 16.0+/-1.7 years old, respectively, p<0.001), larger tumor (3.7+/-2.1cm versus 3.2+/-2.0cm, respectively, p=0.002), more metastatic axillary lymph nodes (3.8+/-7.0 versus 2.4+/-5.7, respectively, p=0.001), more advanced TNM stage (p=0.015), a lower PR positive rate (47.7% versus 59.9%, respectively, p=0.011), and a higher P53 positive rate (71.7% versus 54.9%, respectively, p=0.034). The recurrence rate for the younger group was 26% as compared with 14.4% for the older group. The overall 5-year and 10-year survival rates of younger group were 79.3% and 68.5%, respectively and these of older group were 91.1% and 84.3%, respectively.
CONCLUSION
In premenopausal women with breast cancer, patients with an age< or =35 years have a greater chance of having an endocrine non-responsive tumor, and they are more likely present with larger tumor, more metastatic axillary lymph nodes and a more advanced TMN stage. These results show that younger premenopausal patients have a worse prognosis than older premenopausal patients.

Keyword

Breast cancer; Premenopausal; Age; Prognosis

MeSH Terms

Breast Neoplasms*
Breast*
Female
Humans
Lymph Nodes
Menarche
Population Characteristics
Prognosis
Recurrence
Retrospective Studies
Survival Rate

Figure

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  Fig 1 Overall Survival Curve according to the age group in premenopausal women

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  Fig 2 Disease-free Survival Curve according to the age group in premenopausal women

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