Early breast cancer in elderly patients: Characteristics, therapy, and long-term outcome.

e12046Background: The number of older adults diagnosed with breast cancer and the number of breast cancer survivors is on the rise. The majority of women with breast cancer are diagnosed with an early stage (non-metastatic) potentially curable disease. However, data regarding breast cancer characteristics, treatment, and survival for elderly women are sparse. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all women with invasive, non-metastatic breast cancer treated in our tertiary medical cancer center from January 2004 to December 2007. Patients were divided into 2 groups: those aged 65-75 years and those aged >75 years. Data on tumor characteristics, treatment modalities, and outcome were retrieved from the patient computerized medical files and compared between the groups. Results: The study group comprised 390 patients. Of them, 252 were aged 65-75 years, and 138 were aged >75 years. Patients were followed for a median of 10.6 years.Tumor characteristics were similar in both groups, although older patients had...