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Original Research

Open Access

Breast cancer in the elderly

  • P. Podolski1,*,
  • L. Markulin Grgic1
  • V. Kukura2
  • Z. Budisic1
  • F. Santek1

1Department of Oncology, Zagreb University Hospital Center, Zagreb School of Medicine, Croatia

2Department of Gynecology, Merkur University Hospital,加greb School of Medicine, Croatia

DOI: 10.12892/ejgo200505557 Vol.26,Issue 5,September 2005 pp.557-560

Published: 10 September 2005

*Corresponding Author(s): P. Podolski E-mail:

Abstract

The study population was derived from 482 patients with breast cancer treated at the Department of Oncology, University Hospital Center Zagreb, between 1992 and 1999. The main purpose of our study was to evaluate differences in breast cancer characteristics and treatment in a population of women with breast cancer older than 65 years compared to younger women group (less than 65 years). We have analyzed disease parameters (stage of the disease, size of primary tumor, tumor differentiation grade and steroid receptor status) and parameters associated to treatment modalities (surgery, radiotherapy, hormonal therapy and chemotherapy) in both age groups. In older women, we found significantly higher rates of tumors grade 1 (p = 0.0049), tumors > 2 cm and tumors with a high steroid receptor status (p = 0.0013). Evaluation of treatment modalities showed that in older women a significantly higher proportion were treated with hormonal therapy (p < 0.001) compared to younger patients. In evaluation of clinical outcome after a median follow-up of 58 months, in older women the cumulative 5-year disease-free survival rate was 65%, while cumulative 5-year survival was 83%, which was not significantly different from the younger women (p > 0.005).

Keywords

Breast cancer; Elderly; Tumor characteristics; Therapy

Cite and Share

P. Podolski,L. Markulin Grgic,V. Kukura,Z. Budisic,F. Santek. Breast cancer in the elderly. European Journal of Gynaecological Oncology. 2005. 26(5);557-560.

References

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