Clinical and pathological differences of breast cancer in younger and elderly patients.

AIM: It is known that breast cancers seen in younger and elderly patients have a worse prognosis than the disease seen in middle age. This study aimed at revealing the clinical and pathological differences of the disease and investigating the factors that may have an effect on survival and disease-free survival in very young and elderly female patients who were treated and followed up for breast cancer in our clinics. PATIENTS AND METHOD: The data of female patients who were diagnosed with breast cancer in our clinics between January 2000 and January 2021 were analyzed. Patients aged 35 years and below were assigned to younger group, while those aged 65 years and over were assigned to the elderly group. Clinical and pathological data of groups were analyzed. RESULTS: The results of this study demonstrated no difference in mortality rates and overall survival compared to younger patients, despite the comorbidities and short life expectancy of elderly patients. Moreover, younger patients were found to have a larger tumor size at diagnosis, a higher recurrence rate, and shorter disease-free survival compared to elderly patients. Furthermore, young age was associated with an increased risk of recurrence. CONCLUSION: The data of our study reveals that breast cancer seen in younger patients has a worse prognosis than in elderly patients. There is a need for large-scale randomized controlled studies to reveal all the underlying causes and to develop more effective treatment strategies in order to avoid the poor prognosis of young age-onset breast cancers. KEY WORDS: Breast cancer, Disease-free survival, Elderly patients, Overall survival, Prognosis, Younger patients.