Skip to main content
PMC home page
Annals of Surgery logoLink to Annals of Surgery
. 1984 Feb;199(2):133–142. doi: 10.1097/00000658-198402000-00001

Breast carcinoma in women 35 years of age or younger.

P P Rosen, M L Lesser, D W Kinne, E J Beattie
PMCID: PMC1353322  PMID: 6696528

Abstract

The relationship of the age at diagnosis and prognosis in breast carcinoma remains controversial. A widely held perception is that the disease has a particularly unfavorable prognosis in young women. To examine this question we have studied 166 women treated for primary operable breast carcinoma who were 35 years of age or younger at the time of diagnosis. Groups of patients treated consecutively in each of two time periods nearly a decade apart (1964-1970 and 1976-1979) have been studied. Differences between the patient groups in primary surgical treatment and postoperative adjuvant therapy were characterized in the 1970s by the increasing use of modified radical mastectomy and replacement of postoperative radiation therapy by systemic adjuvant chemotherapy. A trend to earlier stage of disease was found among patients treated in 1976 to 1979, but 5-year recurrence and survival rates were not significantly different from those of young women treated in the 1960s. Comparison of Stage II patients treated in 1964 to 1970 with postoperative radiotherapy with comparable women given adjuvant chemotherapy from 1976 to 1979 revealed no significant difference in disease-free survival in the first 3 years after surgery. It remains to be seen whether these changes in therapy will diminish the frequency of recurrences after 5 years, leading to an improvement in overall survival. When compared with historical controls from this and other institutions, the 5-year and 10-year survival rates of approximately 75% and 60%, respectively, found in this study of young women with primary operative disease were not appreciably different from those of women treated for breast cancer at a later age when the disease is more common.

Full text

PDF
135

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Anderson D. E. Breast cancer in families. Cancer. 1977 Oct;40(4 Suppl):1855–1860. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(197710)40:4+<1855::aid-cncr2820400814>3.0.co;2-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. BLOOM H. J., RICHARDSON W. W. Histological grading and prognosis in breast cancer; a study of 1409 cases of which 359 have been followed for 15 years. Br J Cancer. 1957 Sep;11(3):359–377. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1957.43. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Birks D. M., Crawford G. M., Ellison L. G., Johnstone F. R. Carcinoma of the breast in women 30 years of age or less. Surg Gynecol Obstet. 1973 Jul;137(1):21–25. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Birks D. M., Crawford G. M., Ellison L. G., Johnstone F. R. Carcinoma of the breast in women 30 years of age or less. Surg Gynecol Obstet. 1973 Jul;137(1):21–25. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Black M. M., Hankey B. F., Barclay T. H. Parity as a prognostic factor in young breast cancer patients. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1983 Jan;70(1):27–30. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Brightmore T. G., Greening W. P., Hamlin I. An analysis of clinical and histopathological features in 101 cases of carcinoma of breast in women under 35 years of age. Br J Cancer. 1970 Dec;24(4):644–669. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1970.78. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. CUTLER S. J., EDERER F., GRISWOLD M. H., GREENBERG R. A. Survival of breast-cancer patients in Connecticut, 1935-54. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1959 Nov;23:1137–1156. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Crosby C. H., Barclay T. H. Carcinoma of the breast: surgical management of patients with special conditions. Cancer. 1971 Dec;28(6):1628–1636. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(197112)28:6<1628::aid-cncr2820280644>3.0.co;2-g. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Gogas J., Skalkeas G. Prognosis of mammary carcinoma in young women. Surgery. 1975 Sep;78(3):339–342. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Harrington S. W. CARCINOMA OF THE BREAST RESULTS OF SURGICAL TREATMENT WHEN THE CARCINOMA OCCURRED IN THE COURSE OF PREGNANCY OR LACTATION AND WHEN PREGNANCY OCCURRED SUBSEQUENT TO OPERATION (1910-1933). Ann Surg. 1937 Oct;106(4):690–700. doi: 10.1097/00000658-193710000-00017. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Harvey J. C., Rosen P. P., Ashikari R., Robbins G. F., Kinne D. W. The effect of pregnancy on the prognosis of carcinoma of the breast following radical mastectomy. Surg Gynecol Obstet. 1981 Nov;153(5):723–725. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. KLEINFELD G., HAAGENSEN C. D., COOLEY E. Age and menstrual status as prognostic factors in carcinoma of the breast. Ann Surg. 1963 Apr;157:600–605. doi: 10.1097/00000658-196304000-00016. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. KLEINFELD G., HAAGENSEN C. D., COOLEY E. Age and menstrual status as prognostic factors in carcinoma of the breast. Ann Surg. 1963 Apr;157:600–605. doi: 10.1097/00000658-196304000-00016. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Lesser M. L., Rosen P. P., Kinne D. W. Multicentricity and bilaterality in invasive breast carcinoma. Surgery. 1982 Feb;91(2):234–240. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Lesser M. L., Rosen P. P., Senie R. T., Duthie K., Menendez-Botet C., Schwartz M. K. Estrogen and progesterone receptors in breast carcinoma: correlations with epidemiology and pathology. Cancer. 1981 Jul 15;48(2):299–309. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19810715)48:2<299::aid-cncr2820480215>3.0.co;2-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Mausner J. S., Shimkin M. B., Moss N. H., Rosemond G. P. Cancer of the breast in Philadelphia hospitals 1951-1964. Cancer. 1969 Feb;23(2):260–274. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(196902)23:2<260::aid-cncr2820230203>3.0.co;2-a. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. PAPADRIANOS E., COOLEY E., HAAGENSEN C. D. MAMMARY CARCINOMA IN OLD AGE. Ann Surg. 1965 Feb;161:189–194. doi: 10.1097/00000658-196502000-00004. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. ROBBINS G. F., BERG J. W. BILATERAL PRIMARY BREAST CANCER; A PROSPECTIVE CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL STUDY. Cancer. 1964 Dec;17:1501–1527. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(196412)17:12<1501::aid-cncr2820171202>3.0.co;2-p. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Ribeiro G. G., Swindell R. The prognosis of breast carcinoma in women aged less than 40 years. Clin Radiol. 1981 Mar;32(2):231–236. doi: 10.1016/s0009-9260(81)80168-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Rosen P. P., Lesser M. L., Kinne D. W., Beattie E. J. Discontinuous or "skip" metastases in breast carcinoma. Analysis of 1228 axillary dissections. Ann Surg. 1983 Mar;197(3):276–283. doi: 10.1097/00000658-198303000-00006. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Rosen P. P., Lesser M. L., Senie R. T., Duthie K. Epidemiology of breast carcinoma IV: age and histologic tumor type. J Surg Oncol. 1982 Jan;19(1):44–51. doi: 10.1002/jso.2930190112. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Rosen P. P., Lesser M. L., Senie R. T., Kinne D. W. Epidemiology of breast carcinoma III: relationship of family history to tumor type. Cancer. 1982 Jul 1;50(1):171–179. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19820701)50:1<171::aid-cncr2820500132>3.0.co;2-m. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Rosen P. P., Saigo P. E., Braun D. W., Jr, Weathers E., DePalo A. Predictors of recurrence in stage I (T1N0M0) breast carcinoma. Ann Surg. 1981 Jan;193(1):15–25. doi: 10.1097/00000658-198101000-00003. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Rosen P. P., Saigo P. E., Braun D. W., Weathers E., Kinne D. W. Prognosis in stage II (T1N1M0) breast cancer. Ann Surg. 1981 Nov;194(5):576–584. doi: 10.1097/00000658-198111000-00005. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Rouessé J., Contesso G., Génin J., Sarrazin D., Weiler J., May-Levin F. Les adénocarcinomes du sein chez les femmes de moins de trente ans. Bull Cancer. 1972 Jan-Mar;59(1):41–60. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Schottenfeld D., Nash A. G., Robbins G. F., Beattie E. J., Jr Ten-year results of the treatment of primary operable breast carcinoma: A summary of 304 patients evaluated by the TNM system. Cancer. 1976 Aug;38(2):1001–1007. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(197608)38:2<1001::aid-cncr2820380252>3.0.co;2-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. TREVES N., HOLLEB A. I. A report of 549 cases of breast cancer in women 35 years of age or younger. Surg Gynecol Obstet. 1958 Sep;107(3):271–283. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Urban J. A., Castro E. B. Selecting variations in extent of surgical procedure for breast cancer. Cancer. 1971 Dec;28(6):1615–1623. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(197112)28:6<1615::aid-cncr2820280642>3.0.co;2-w. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Annals of Surgery are provided here courtesy of Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins

RESOURCES