Young age: an independent risk factor for disease-free survival in women with operable breast cancer.
BACKGROUND
The incidence of breast cancer in young women (age < 35) is low. The biology of the disease in this age group is poorly understood, and there are conflicting data regarding the prognosis for these women compared to older patients.


METHODS
We retrospectively analyzed 2040 consecutive primary invasive breast cancer patients who underwent surgical procedures at our institution between 1990 and 1999. The younger age group was defined as patients aged <35 years at the time of diagnosis. The clinicopathological characteristics and treatment outcomes were compared between younger and older age groups.


RESULTS
A total of 256 (12.5%) patients were aged <35. There was a significantly higher incidence of nuclear grade 3 and medullary histological-type tumors in younger patients compared to older patients. Axillary lymph node status, T stage, histological grade, c-erbB2 expression and estrogen receptor status did not differ significantly between the two age groups. Younger patients had a greater probability of recurrence and death at all time periods. Although there was no significant difference in disease-free survival between the two age groups in lymph node-negative patients, the younger group showed worse prognosis among lymph node-positive patients (p < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, young age remained a significant predictor of recurrence (p = 0.010).


CONCLUSIONS
Young age (<35) is an independent risk factor for relapse in operable breast cancer patients.
Han
Wonshik
W
Department of Surgery, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 110-744, Korea. celsus@hanafos.com <celsus@hanafos.com>
Kim
Seok Won
SW
Park
In Ae
IA
Kang
Daehee
D
Kim
Sung-Won
SW
Youn
Yeo-Kyu
YK
Oh
Seung Keun
SK
Choe
Kuk Jin
KJ
Noh
Dong-Young
DY
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000401:mortality; D012189:Retrospective Studies