Breast cancer characteristics in very young Egyptian women ≤35 years.
BACKGROUND
Breast cancer in very young patients represents a unique issue that needs more attention as the number of cases is increasing and it has special characteristics at presentation, diagnosis, and biologic behaviors which reflect on both treatment strategies and survival. The aim of the current study was to analyze and report the clinico-pathological characteristics and treatment procedures used for breast cancer in very young patients over the last decade in a single Egyptian cancer center.


METHODS
A retrospective study was conducted in the Oncology Center - Mansoura University, where the data of all breast cancer patients, between September 2006 and August 2015, were reviewed. Among 4,628 patients who were diagnosed with breast cancer during this period, only 300 patients aged ≤35 years had complete registry data. Clinico-pathological characteristics, therapeutic procedures, and survival outcome were reported.


RESULTS
Three hundred and seventy-nine patients (8.19%) were aged ≤35 years at the time of presentation. The age ranged between 21 and 35 years, and the mean age was 31 years (±3 standard deviation). Positive family history of breast cancer was found in 12.3%, and metastatic presentation was seen in 4.7%. The rate of axillary lymph nodes involvement was 75.7%. The estrogen receptor-negative disease was found in 51%, and among 217 patients who did HER2 test, 82 patients (37.8%) were HER2 positive, while triple-negative subtype was found in 57 patients (26.4%). Ki 67 percentage ranged between 3% and 66% (median was 35%). The median disease-free survival was 61 months (95% confidence interval 44-78 months); the 3-year and 5-year disease-free survival were 58% and 50%, respectively. The 3-year and 5-year overall survival were 88% and 68%, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Very young Egyptian patients with breast cancer should be given focus and specially studied as the presentation has more aggressive biologic behavior at advanced stages, so the treatment strategies have to be tailored in a very precise manner.
Surgical Oncology Unit, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
Omar
O
Farouk
Medical Oncology Unit, Oncology Center, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
Mohamed A
MA
Ebrahim
Surgical Oncology Unit, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
Ahmad
A
Senbel
Medical Oncology Unit, Oncology Center, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
Ziad
Z
Emarah
Clinical Oncology and Nuclear Medicine Department, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
Waleed
W
Abozeed
Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
Mohamed O
MO
Seisa
Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
Summer
S
Mackisack
Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
Salah
S
Abdel Jalil
Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
Safaa
S
Abdelhady
Egypt; breast cancer; survival; very young