Purpose: The optimal management of breast cancer in elderly women is not well established. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to evaluate the outcome of breast cancer in elderly women treated with breast-conserving surgery and definitive breast irradiation.
Methods and materials: An analysis was performed of 558 women age > or = 50 years treated with breast-conserving surgery and definitive breast irradiation for Stages I-II invasive carcinoma of the breast. Of the 558 total women, there were 173 elderly women > or = 65 years and a comparison group of 385 women age 50-64 years. Treatment for all women included complete gross excision of the primary tumor, pathologic axillary lymph node staging, and definitive breast irradiation. Adjuvant systemic chemotherapy was used in 18% (102 out of 558) of the overall group. Adjuvant tamoxifen was used in 17% (94 out of 558) of the overall group. The median follow-up after treatment was 6.2 years (mean = 6.4 years; range = 0.1-15.4 years).
Results: Elderly patients age > or = 65 years and patients age 50-64 years were both found to have tumors with adverse prognostic features, including clinical T2 lesions (43 vs. 34%, respectively; p = 0.055), estrogen receptor negativity (9 vs. 16%, respectively; p = 0.13), and progesterone receptor negativity (17 vs. 21%, respectively; p = 0.50). Pathologic axillary lymph node staging showed that 24% of the elderly women were node positive, including 8% with four or more positive nodes, which was not different from women age 50-64 years (p = 0.23). There was no difference between the two age groups for the rate of deaths from breast cancer at 10 years (13 vs. 13%, respectively; p = 0.71). However, there was a significant difference between the two age groups for the rate of deaths from intercurrent disease at 10 years (11 vs. 2%, respectively; p = 0.0006). There were no differences between the two age groups for the 10-year rates of overall survival (77 vs. 85%, respectively; p = 0.14), relapse-free survival (64 vs. 70%, respectively; p = 0.16), freedom from distant metastases (83 vs. 78%, respectively; p = 0.45), or local failure (13 vs. 12%, respectively; p = 0.60).
Conclusions: These results have shown that breast carcinomas in elderly women are not indolent and have a number of adverse prognostic features. Breast-conserving surgery and definitive breast irradiation in elderly women age > or = 65 years achieves good outcomes for survival, freedom from distant metastases, and local control, which are comparable to women age 50-64 years. The causes of deaths in elderly women age > or = 65 years are from both breast cancer and intercurrent disease. Breast-conserving surgery and definitive breast irradiation should continue to be considered as a standard treatment option for appropriately selected elderly women with early-stage breast cancer.