Breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer in women worldwide, with more aggressive clinical behavior and poor outcomes in younger patients. This is to their increased risk of presenting with biologically aggressive types of cancer and at more advanced stage. Many studies have attempted to identify risk factors for local recurrence and distant metastases. The aim of this retrospective study was to analyze rates of recurrence in young patients with breast cancer treated at Ticino Breast Unit.
We analyzed medical records of 381 women ≤50 years old, with stage I-III invasive breast cancer, treated with curative intent, from 2010 to 2017. Demographics, tumor biology, type of surgery, neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapy, site of recurrence, time of recurrence and survival were assessed. Overall survival (OS) was defined as the time period from diagnosis to death from any cause. Disease-free survival (DFS) was defined as the time period from surgery to the first loco regional recurrence and/or metastases. Survival curves were calculated using Kaplan-Meier method.
The median age at the time of diagnosis was 45 years (range 23 to 50 years). The median follow-up was 45.6 months (range 1 to 105 months). Twenty-two patients (5.8%) were lost to follow-up. Tumor relapse occurred in 29 cases (7.6%), among which 9 patients died. Fourteen patients (3.7%) developed a loco-regional recurrence, 6 patients (1.6%) developed distant metastases and 9 patients (2.4%) loco-regional plus distant metastases. The most common site of loco-regional failure was the omolateral breast (11 patients). Two patients developed a second tumor in the contralateral breast. The median interval to recurrence was 31 months (range 3 to 87 months). The 3-year and 5-year risk for loco-regional recurrence was 4.7% and 9.5% respectively. The 3-years and 5-year DFS was 94.3% and 91.2% respectively. The 5-years OS was 93.3%.
Loco-regional recurrence and distant metastases rates of our population do not differ from those published in literature. Further analysis is needed to recognize biological and clinical risk factors for recurrence, with the aim of identifying prognostic models and addressing therapies.
Radiation Oncology Clinic.
Has not received any funding.
All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.