title: Impact of Treatment Type on Overall Survival in ElderlyBrazilian Women with Breast Cancer
abstract: Objective: To analyze the survival of elderly patients with breast cancer according to the type of treatment used.
  Methods: A cohort study of women aged 80 or over with breast cancer registered with the Brazilian National Cancer
  Institute (Instituto Nacional do Câncer - INCA) between 2008 and 2009 was conducted. Prognosis was analyzed
  according to the cancer treatment performed: surgery, radiotherapy, or hormone therapy. Analysis of the overall 5-year
  survival rate was performed using the Kaplan - Meier method, and comparisons of curves were undertaken using the
  log-rank test. For multiple regression analysis, Cox regression was used, adjusting for age and clinical stage, considering
  values of p < 0.05 as significant. Data were all analyzed using the statistical package SPSS version 20. Results: 70
  women with a mean age of 84.0 ± 3.7 years at diagnosis participated in the study. The median follow-up time was
  37.1 months (range 0.5–75.5), and 31 deaths (44.3%) occurred during this time. The median survival time was 51.2
  months (95% CI, 44.9–57.4), higher in those who underwent surgery (p = 0.012) and those who had hormone therapy
  (p=0.001). Treatment with surgery reduced the risk of death by 61.7% (HR 0.3; 95% CI, 0.1–0.6; p = 0.001) when
  adjusted for clinical stage and age at diagnosis. However, there was no significant benefit from radiotherapy (HR 1.2;
  95% CI, 0.5–2.5; p = 0.694). Conclusion: Treatment with surgery and hormone therapy increased the survival of our
  Brazilian patients with breast cancer aged 80 or over.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Epidemiology – National Cancer Institute – INCA, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Email:lthuler@inca.gov.br
authors.forename: Marcelo Adeodato
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Bello
authors.forename: Raquel Ferreira de
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Menezes
authors.forename: Brunna
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Rafael de Carvalho
authors.initials: Rde C
authors.lastname: da Silva
authors.forename: Rousiane Silva
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Cavalcanti
authors.forename: Thayane de Fátima da Costa
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Moraes
authors.forename: Fabiana
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tonellotto
authors.forename: Suzana Sales de
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Aguiar
authors.forename: Renata Brum
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Martucci
authors.forename: Anke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bergmann
authors.forename: Luiz Claudio
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Thuler
keywords: Breast cancer; elderly; survival analysis; treatment