Abstract
Abstract Background: Breast cancer is uncommon in young women. Biology of the disease in this age group is poorly understood and the prognostic significance of young age at diagnosis remains controversial. We investigated the clinicopathological characteristics and outcomes of younger breast cancer patients (≤35 years of age), and assessed the prognostic significance of young age according to molecular subtype.Methods: We analyzed 2,474 primary invasive breast cancer patients who underwent surgery between 2000 and 2005. The younger age group consisted of patients aged ≤35 years. Subtypes were defined by expression of hormone receptor (HR) and HER2: luminal (HR+ irrespective of HER2 status), triple-negative (HR- and HER2-) and HER2 (HR- and HER2+).Results: A total of 229 (9.3%) patients were aged ≤35 years. Breast cancers in this age group were associated with larger size, higher lymph node positivity, higher nuclear and histological grades, and elevated Ki-67 index, compared with tumors in older patients. Younger patients had a greater probability of recurrence than older patients (P<0.001). By multivariate analysis, young age remained a significant predictor of recurrence (hazard ratio, 1.54; 95% confidence interval, 1.15-2.06; P=0.004). When the cancer subtypes were considered, young age was a significant predictor of recurrence in patients with both luminal and HER2 subtypes. In patients with the triple-negative subtype, however, young age was not a predictor of recurrence.Conclusions: Young age (≤35 years) was an independent predictor of recurrence for operable breast cancer patients with the luminal and HER2 subtypes, but not for those with the triple-negative subtype. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(24 Suppl):Abstract nr 4063.
Published Version
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