title: Young women with breast cancer in the United States and South Korea: comparison of demographics, pathology and management.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Breast cancer diagnosed in young women may be more aggressive, with higher rates of local and distant recurrence compared to the disease in older women. Epidemiologic evidence suggests that Korean women have a lower incidence of breast cancer than women in the United States, but that they present at a younger age than their American counterparts. We sought to compare risk factors and management of young women with breast cancer in Boston, Massachusetts (US) with those in Seoul, South Korea (KR).
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective review was performed of consecutive patients less than 35 years old with a diagnosis of breast cancer at academic cancer centers in the US and KR from 2000-2005. Patient data were obtained by chart review. Demographic, tumor and treatment characteristics were compared utilizing Pearson's chi- square or Wilcoxon rank-sum tests where appropriate. All differences were assessed as significant at the 0.05 level.
  
  
  RESULTS
  205 patients from the US and 309 from KR were analyzed. Patients in US were more likely to have hormone receptor positive breast cancer, while patients in KR had a higher rate of triple negative lesions. Patients in US had a higher mean body mass index and more often reported use of birth control pills, while those in the KR were less likely to have a sentinel node procedure performed or to receive post mastectomy radiation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients under 35 diagnosed with breast cancer in the US and KR differ with respect to demographics, tumor characteristics and management. Although rates of breast conservation and mastectomy were similar, US patients were more likely to receive post mastectomy radiation. The lower use of sentinel node biopsy is explained by the later adoption of the technique in KR. Further evaluation is necessary to evaluate recurrence rates and survival in the setting of differing disease subtypes in these patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea E-mail : fatihdr@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Byung Ho
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Son
authors.forename: Laura S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Dominici
authors.forename: Fatih
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Aydogan
authors.forename: Lawrence N
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Shulman
authors.forename: Sei Hyn
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Ja Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Suzanne B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Coopey
authors.forename: Sung Bae
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: H Elise
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Min
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Valero
authors.forename: Jiping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Caragacianu
authors.forename: Gyung-yub
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: Nathanael D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Hevelone
authors.forename: Seunghee
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baek
authors.forename: Mehra
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Golshan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003710:Demography; D019468:Disease Management; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology*; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000175:diagnosis*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology