J Korean Surg Soc.
2007 Feb;72(2):101-106.
Prognosis of Breast Cancer Occurring in Patients below the Age of 35 Years Compared with Groups above the Age of 36 Years
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Surgery, Keimyung University College of Medicine, Daegu, Korea. shkang9002@dsmc.or.kr
- 2Department of Surgery, Dongguk University College of Medicine, Gyeongju, Korea.
Abstract
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PURPOSE: The peak age for breast cancer in Korea is in the fifth decade, which is younger than that of Western countries. However, controversy exists about the effect of age on the prognosis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of age on the prognosis in young breast cancer patients.
METHODS
Nine hundred and seventeen patients, having undergone a breast cancer operation at our hospital, between January 1990 and December 2001, were included. The patients were divided into two groups: young age (under 35 years) and old age (> 35 years) groups. The factors analyzed included the tumor size, number of lymph node metastasis, stage, hormonal receptor status, c-erbB-2 status, p53 status, operation method and adjuvant therapy. These factors and the survival rates were compared between the two groups using SPSS 12.0.
RESULTS
One hundred and twenty three (13.4%) and 794 (86.6%) patients were younger than and older than 35 years, respectively. There were no statistical differences in the clinicopathological factors between the two groups, with the exception of stage. The 5 year disease free survival rates in the young and old age groups were 67.0 and 77.5%, respectively (P=0.027). When adjusted for stage, the rates for the old and young age groups in stage I were 90.7 and 72.4%, respectively. Also, for stages II and III, those in the young age group had worse prognosis compared to those in the old age group. The 5 year overall survival was lower in the young age group, but with no statistical significance (P=0.108).
CONCLUSION
The young aged breast cancer patients had a worse prognosis than the old age group. Therefore, aggressive adjuvant treatment should be considered to reduce the recurrence in young patient, despite the earlier occurrence of breast cancer.
