title: [Carcinoma of the breast at autopsy: could the age factor be a significant determinant in the process of metastasis?].
abstract: A retrospective study was carried out based on 35,764 consecutive autopsies in order to calculate the frequency with which breast carcinoma metastasizes to other organs and the relative changes in the metastatic frequency according to the age of the patients. A total of 698 primary breast cancers were studied. Metastases to various organs were found in 612 cases. The patients who died under 50 years of age revealed the highest rate of metastasis. Although breast carcinoma drops significantly with the age of the woman if compared to other female malignant neoplasms (24.8% up to 54 years of age vs 4% over 90 years of age), the frequency of its metastasis in practice only declines as a result of a very significant drop (p less than 0.0001) in liver metastasis (72.3% under 49 years of age vs 32.2% over 80 years of age). It was only possible to obtain a significant drop (p less than 0.01) in lung, brain and heart metastasis by dividing the cases into larger age groups. In other organs studied no drops in frequency with age were noted. There is agreement with those authors who state that prognosis for breast carcinoma in elderly women is no better than that for young women. There is a possibility that the attachment by neoplastic cells in the liver is influenced by hormonal factors relating to age, and it should be stressed that the metastatic process is influenced by complex interactions between the primary neoplasm, the target organ and the host.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bussani
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vasciaveo
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Silvestri
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D012189:Retrospective Studies
vernacular_title: Il carcinoma della mammella all'autopsia: può il fattore età agire come variabile determinante nel processo di metastatizzazione?