ABSTRACT

Young breast cancer patients have been examined specifically according to the progress of disease, biological behavior differences, and manifestation of various characteristics of prognostic factors. A total of 1300 breast cancer patients, treated between the years 1997 and 2005, were enrolled in the study. Of those patients, 133 were aged 35 years or younger (10%). They were then compared with women older than 35 years in relation to stage, nodal state, surgical technique, adjuvant and neo-adjuvant therapies, ER/PR status, grade, lymphatic and vascular invasion, intraductal component, histological type, local-recurrence, metastasis, mortality, disease-free survival and overall survival rates and predictive factors. In patients aged 35 years or younger, stage, nodal involvement, lymphatic and vascular invasion, ER/PR negativity resulted with higher ratios. In this patient group, local-recurrence and mortality rates were increased while overall survival and disease-free survival decreased. The strong predictive factors observed in the study include stage, grade, and nodal status.

These outcomes demonstrate that breast cancer in young patients possess worse prognoses. The characteristics of young breast cancer patients in Turkey are similar to that of other countries.