BCT, mastectomy reveal similar survival rates in young women with early-stage breast cancer
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Women diagnosed with breast cancer at age 40 or younger have low overall recurrence rates at five and 10 years; and young women with early-stage breast cancer have similar survival rates when treated with breast-conservation therapy (BCT) or mastectomy, according to two studies presented at the 2011 Breast Cancer Symposium, held from Sept. 8 to 10 in San Francisco.
Julliette M. Buckley, M.D., from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and colleagues determined the rates of loco-regional recurrence (LRR), distant recurrence, and overall survival (OS) after adjusting for patient and tumor characteristics by reviewing data from medical records of 628 women with breast cancer at age 40 or younger between 1996 and 2008 (median follow-up, 72 months). LRR, distant recurrence rates, and OS were 5.56, 10.65, and 93.1 percent, respectively, at five years, and 12.11, 14.58, and 87.26 percent, respectively, at 10 years.
Usama Mahmood, M.D., from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and colleagues evaluated survival outcomes by comparing OS and case-specific survival (CSS) in 14,760 women between the ages of 20 and 39 years with T1-2 N0-1 M0 breast cancer treated with BCT or mastectomy between 1990 and 2007 (median follow-up, 5.7 years). Similar OS and CSS, predicted by year of diagnosis, age, race/ethnicity, grade, progesterone receptor status, tumor size, number of positive lymph nodes, and number of lymph nodes examined, was observed for patients treated with BCT or mastectomy in multivariable analyses and matched pair analyses.
"Young women with early-stage breast cancer have equivalent survival whether treated with BCT or mastectomy. These patients should be counseled appropriately regarding their treatment options, and should not choose a mastectomy based on the assumption of improved survival," Mahmood and colleagues conclude.
Abstract - Buckley
Abstract - Mahmood
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