Impact of Age on Survival of Patients with Operable Breast Cancer

Background: Breast cancer arising in young patients (≤ ۴۰ years) is beingconsidered as a distinct clinical entity with more aggressive tumor features andpoorer survival. Our aim was to assess the impact of age on survival among a largegroup of Iranian women diagnosed with breast cancer.Methods: In a cross-sectional study, demographic and clinicopathologicalcharacteristics of patients with breast cancer who were treated in two referralcenters in Tehran, Iran during the past ۱۳ years were reviewed and extracted froman electronic database. Patients were divided into two groups based on the age atthe time of diagnosis (≤۴۰ and >۴۰ years). The association of age with differentclinicopathological features and its impact on disease-free survival were assessed.Results: Study population comprised of ۳۵۳(۲۶.۱%) patients who were ۴۰years old or younger and ۱۰۰۰(۷۳.۹%) who were older. Compared to olderpatients, younger participants had more commonly tumor size larger than ۵ cm (P=۰.۰۳۴), higher chance of lymph node metastasis (P= ۰.۰۳۶), and overexpression ofHER-۲ (P = ۰.۰۰۴). No significant differences were observed between the twogroups regarding ER, PR, and LNR (lymph node ratio). Age was the only factoraffecting patients' disease-free survival and younger patients had higher chance oflocal or distant metastases compared to older subjects (HR: ۱.۴۹, ۹۵%CI: ۱.۰۲-۲.۱۷, P= ۰.۰۳۸).Conclusions: Based on the results of current study, it can be suggested thatyounger patients who are diagnosed with breast cancer tend to have larger tumorsize, higher chance of lymph node metastasis and overexpression of HER-۲compared to patients older than ۴۰ years. Age was the only significant factor thatwas associated with shorter disease-free survival.