A cross-sectional study of elderly Asian and European women with primary operable breast cancer aged 70 and older. Are there differences?

BackgroundBreast cancer (BC) is becoming a disease of the elderly. Additionally, BC-incidence is rising in Asia. The aim of this study was to explore clinico-pathological characteristics and differences of breast cancer in elderly Asian/Han-Chinese compared to Caucasian/Austrian women.MethodsA total number of 630 consecutive primary operable, unilateral breast cancer cases, 70 years and older, were analyzed. Histo-pathological findings and biological characteristics of 198 Caucasian/Austrian were compared with 432 Asian/Han-Chinese. Pearson's chi-square test was used to assess differences in the analyzed populations.ResultsA significantly higher rate of triple-negative BC (p = 0.027) was diagnosed among the Chinese geriatric population. More estrogen-receptor positive BC was detected in the Caucasian study group (p < 0.001). No statistically significant differences were detected based on tumor size, axillary lymph-node status, nor HER2-receptor expression.ConclusionThis study will help us gain additional ethnic-specific insight into the biological characteristics of breast cancer in the elderly Caucasian/Austrian and Asian/Han-Chinese populations.