Breast Cancer Treatment Practices in Elderly Women in a Community Hospital

Background. Elderly women with breast cancer are considered underdiagnosed and undertreated, and this adversely affects their overall survival. Methods. A total of 393 female breast cancer patients aged 70 years and older, diagnosed within the years 1989–1999, were identified from the tumor registry...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hua Wang, Awinder P. Singh, Serena A. St. Luce, Alan R. Go
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2011-01-01
Series:International Journal of Breast Cancer
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.4061/2011/467906
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832564160545685504
author Hua Wang
Awinder P. Singh
Serena A. St. Luce
Alan R. Go
author_facet Hua Wang
Awinder P. Singh
Serena A. St. Luce
Alan R. Go
author_sort Hua Wang
collection DOAJ
description Background. Elderly women with breast cancer are considered underdiagnosed and undertreated, and this adversely affects their overall survival. Methods. A total of 393 female breast cancer patients aged 70 years and older, diagnosed within the years 1989–1999, were identified from the tumor registry of The Brooklyn Hospital Center. Comparisons between the 3 different subgroups 70–74, 75–79, and 80 years and older were made using the Pearson Chi Square test. Results. Lumpectomy was performed in 42% of all patients, while mastectomy was done in 46% of patients. Adjuvant therapy such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and hormonal therapy were done in 12%, 25%, and 38%, respectively. Forty-seven percent of patients with positive lymph nodes received chemotherapy. Eighty-six percent of patients who were estrogen receptor-positive received adjuvant hormonal therapy. Overall five-year survival was only 14% for the ≥80 age group, compared to that of 32% and 35% for the 70–74 and the 75–79 age groups, respectively. Conclusions. Surgery was performed in majority of these patients, about half received lumpectomy, the other half mastectomy. Adjuvant therapies were frequently excluded, with only hormonal therapy being the most commonly used. Overall five-year survival is significantly worse in patients ≥80 years with breast cancer.
format Article
id doaj-art-f347a625e98645058343373a4caccfd9
institution Kabale University
issn 2090-3189
language English
publishDate 2011-01-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series International Journal of Breast Cancer
spelling doaj-art-f347a625e98645058343373a4caccfd92025-02-03T01:11:47ZengWileyInternational Journal of Breast Cancer2090-31892011-01-01201110.4061/2011/467906467906Breast Cancer Treatment Practices in Elderly Women in a Community HospitalHua Wang0Awinder P. Singh1Serena A. St. Luce2Alan R. Go3Department of Surgery, The Brooklyn Hospital Center, 121 Dekalb Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USADepartment of Surgery, The Brooklyn Hospital Center, 121 Dekalb Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USADepartment of Surgery, The Brooklyn Hospital Center, 121 Dekalb Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USADepartment of Surgery, The Brooklyn Hospital Center, 121 Dekalb Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USABackground. Elderly women with breast cancer are considered underdiagnosed and undertreated, and this adversely affects their overall survival. Methods. A total of 393 female breast cancer patients aged 70 years and older, diagnosed within the years 1989–1999, were identified from the tumor registry of The Brooklyn Hospital Center. Comparisons between the 3 different subgroups 70–74, 75–79, and 80 years and older were made using the Pearson Chi Square test. Results. Lumpectomy was performed in 42% of all patients, while mastectomy was done in 46% of patients. Adjuvant therapy such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and hormonal therapy were done in 12%, 25%, and 38%, respectively. Forty-seven percent of patients with positive lymph nodes received chemotherapy. Eighty-six percent of patients who were estrogen receptor-positive received adjuvant hormonal therapy. Overall five-year survival was only 14% for the ≥80 age group, compared to that of 32% and 35% for the 70–74 and the 75–79 age groups, respectively. Conclusions. Surgery was performed in majority of these patients, about half received lumpectomy, the other half mastectomy. Adjuvant therapies were frequently excluded, with only hormonal therapy being the most commonly used. Overall five-year survival is significantly worse in patients ≥80 years with breast cancer.http://dx.doi.org/10.4061/2011/467906
spellingShingle Hua Wang
Awinder P. Singh
Serena A. St. Luce
Alan R. Go
Breast Cancer Treatment Practices in Elderly Women in a Community Hospital
International Journal of Breast Cancer
title Breast Cancer Treatment Practices in Elderly Women in a Community Hospital
title_full Breast Cancer Treatment Practices in Elderly Women in a Community Hospital
title_fullStr Breast Cancer Treatment Practices in Elderly Women in a Community Hospital
title_full_unstemmed Breast Cancer Treatment Practices in Elderly Women in a Community Hospital
title_short Breast Cancer Treatment Practices in Elderly Women in a Community Hospital
title_sort breast cancer treatment practices in elderly women in a community hospital
url http://dx.doi.org/10.4061/2011/467906
work_keys_str_mv AT huawang breastcancertreatmentpracticesinelderlywomeninacommunityhospital
AT awinderpsingh breastcancertreatmentpracticesinelderlywomeninacommunityhospital
AT serenaastluce breastcancertreatmentpracticesinelderlywomeninacommunityhospital
AT alanrgo breastcancertreatmentpracticesinelderlywomeninacommunityhospital