The study findings
are being presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Breast
Cancer Congress 2019 in Berlin, Germany.
In this regard,
ESMO Spokesman Dr. Matteo Lambertini, MD, PhD, from IRCCS Policlinico San Martino
Hospital, University of Genoa, Italy, said:
"Women
under 40 years of age tend to be diagnosed with more aggressive breast cancer
types - for example their tumors are more likely to be triple negative and HER2 positive. Despite this,
survival and local recurrence rates are similar to those of the general
population of breast cancer patients provided they receive appropriate
treatment." Study 1: Breast
Cancer in Young Women - A Multi-Center 10-Year Experience
Study Aims
Characterization of
a cohort of young women with
breast cancer with reference to
incidence, biology, tumor stage, treatment, and survival.
Study Methods - This was a retrospective, multi-center study,
conducted between 2008-2017
- All breast cancer patients were below 35 years of
age
- The study included 207 patients from 5 centers
- 35 patients were excluded from the study due to the
following reasons:
- 27 due to lack of data
- 1 due to two different synchronous tumors
- 7 due to ductal in
situ carcinoma
- Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package
for the Social Sciences (SPSS, IBM, USA)
Study Findings - The median age of the patients was 31 years
- The most common (91%) histological subtype was
ductal invasive carcinoma
- The tumors were categorized into the following
subtypes:
- 4 percent: Luminal A
- 20 percent: Luminal B HER2 positive
- 47 percent: Luminal B HER2 negative
- 8 percent: HER2 positive
- 21 percent: Triple negative
- 48 percent of patients were diagnosed with early
stage breast cancer
- 45 percent of patients had locally advanced breast
cancer
- 6 percent of patients had de novo metastatic breast cancer
- 39 percent of patients underwent neoadjuvant
chemotherapy (CT), of which 12 percent gave a complete response
- 83 percent of patients underwent adjuvant systemic
therapy (CT or endocrine therapy)
- 18 percent exclusively underwent endocrine therapy
- The median follow-up time was 53.5 months
- 37 patients developed metastatic breast cancer
- The median survival time was 16.5 months for
metastatic breast cancer
- 3 patients had a local recurrence with a median
time of 27 months
- 85 percent of the patients were alive at the time
of termination of the study
Dr. Ines F.
Eiriz, the presenting author, attached to the Hospital Prof. Doutor Fernando
Fonseca, Amadora, Portugal, said:
"Disease-free
survival was longest in women with hormone receptor-positive tumors, followed by those with
HER2 positive disease, and lastly those with triple negative breast cancer.
The median survival of patients without metastases was 130 months compared to
16.5 months for those with metastatic disease."Study 2: Breast Cancer Early Recurrences in Young Women
Study Aims
Analysis of rates
of recurrence of cancer in young breast cancer patients.
Study Methods - This was
a retrospective study conducted between 2010-2017
- Medical
records of 381 women ≤ 50 years were analyzed
- The women
were undergoing treatment for Stage I-III invasive breast cancer
- The
following parameters were assessed:
- Demographics
- Tumor
biology
- Type of
surgery
- Neoadjuvant/adjuvant
therapy
- Site/time
of recurrence
- Survival
- Overall
survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were calculated using
Kaplan-Meier survival curves
Study Findings - The
median age of the patients was 45 years
- The
median follow-up time was 45.6 months
- 22
patients (5.8%) were lost to follow-up
- 29
patients (7.6%) relapsed, among which 9 died
- 2
patients developed a second tumor in the contralateral breast
- The
median interval to recurrence was 31 months
- The
3-year and 5-year risk for loco-regional recurrence was 4.7 percent and
9.5 percent respectively
- The
3-year and 5-year DFS was 94.3 percent and 91.2 percent respectively
- The
5-year OS was 93.3 percent
Dr. Simona Cima,
the presenting author, attached to the IOSI - Oncology Institute of Southern
Switzerland, Bellinzona, Switzerland, said:
"Most
recurrences in these patients were local rather than metastatic. Our study is
ongoing, and the next step is to identify the predictors of local recurrence. For example, we will examine the
likelihood of local recurrence according to HER2 and triple negative status." Conclusion
The findings of
the two studies indicate that being diagnosed with breast cancer at a younger
age does not necessarily mean lower survival or higher chances of recurrence.
Importantly, proper guideline-recommended treatments should be administered to
all breast cancer patients, irrespective of age, with due attention to possible
side-effects of anticancer therapies, including infertility.
References :- Breast Cancer in Young Women: Good Outcomes with Advised Therapy - (https://www.esmo.org/Press-Office/Press-Releases/Breast-cancer-young-women-aggressiveness-recurrence-Cima-Eiriz)
- Ines F. Eiriz, Breast Cancer in Young Women - A Multi-Center 10-Year Experience, Annals of Oncology, Volume 30, 2019 Supplement 3.
- Simona Cima, Breast Cancer Early Recurrences in Young Women, Annals of Oncology, Volume 30, 2019 Supplement 3.
Source: Medindia