Clinical significance of age for premenopausal women with primary breast cancer

摘要

Purpose Breast carcinoma in young patients has been reported to present with more aggressive biologic characteristics and to behave poorer compared with the disease in older patients. However, the association between the age and the prognosis in premenopausal patients has rarely been reported on. This study aimed to reveal the clinicopathologic characteristics and prognostic significance of young age (age≤35) for the breast cancer of premenopausal women. Methods We retrospectively analyzed 1033 premenopausal women with breast cancer who underwent surgery in our institution between 1985 and 2003. A total of 180 patients were aged >35 years (the younger premenopausal group) and 853 patients were aged >35 years (the older premenopausal group). The clinicopathologic characteristics and treatment outcomes were compared between the younger and older groups. Results Compared to the older premenopausal group, the younger group showed earlier menarche (15.2±19 years old versus 16.0±1.7 years old, respectively, p Conclusion In premenopausal women with breast cancer, patients with an age≤35 years have a greater chance of having an endocrine non-responsive tumor, and they are more likely present with larger tumor, more metastatic axillary lymph nodes and a more advanced TMN stage. These results show that younger premenopausal patients have a worse prognosis than older premenopausal patients.