Treatment and prognosis of breast cancer in elderly: Different from young patients?

PurposeThe incidence of breast cancer increases with advanced age; 80% of patients are older then 50 years and 40% of patients are older then 65 years. But clinical trials including elderly patient are unsatisfactory. Most of the treatment decisions are based on retrospective subgroup analysis and extrapolations from studies including young patients. In this trial we aimed to reevaluate our elderly breast cancer patients’ data.MethodsThis study includes breast cancer patients age older then 65 years and treated at Cumhuriyet University Faculty of Medicine Medical Oncology Department. The patients’ data were reviewed retrospectively.ResultsSeventy-nine patient's data, who had treated and followed up at our institution were evaluated. Seventy-one (89.9%) patients were non-metastatic at the time of diagnosis. Chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy related side effects had detected in 66.6% of patients. The only grade 4 side effect was skin reaction in 1 patient. During the follow up period progression had developed at 100% of metastatic patients. In non-metastatic group, 2 patients (2.7%) had local relapse and 12 patients (16.6%) had distant metastasis.ConclusionElderly patients have more favorable prognostic factors from younger patients but their survival is not as good as expected. Chemotherapy or radiotherapy is not more toxic in elderly patients. So with close follow up elderly breast cancer patients should be treated as younger patients.