Clinical and pathological features of breast cancer patients in the geriatric population

Purpose: A significant portion of patients diagnosed with breast cancer are over the age of 65. Elderly patients are often excluded from prospective clinical trials due to comorbidities. Clinicians have different treatment management options for elderly patients. Under-treatment or over-treatment may negatively affect treatment outcomes and prognosis. There are few data to guide treatment decisions. We present the clinical and pathological features of elderly breast cancer patients followed in our cancer center. Materials and Methods: A retrospective review of files about surgically treated patients with breast cancer was conducted. The prognostic impact on overall survival and progression-free survival was assessed. Results: The study encompassed a total of 101 patients. The median age was 67 (65-81) years. Approximately half of the patients were classified as TNM stage 2. The majority of them had undergone modified radical mastectomy. 15.8% received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. 84.2% had invasive ductal carcinoma histological subtype. progression-free survival was lower in patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy with pathological N3 lymph nodes and in HER2-positive patients. The 5-year survival rate was 61.7% in patients with N3 pathological lymph nodes, 91% in those with N2 pathological lymph nodes, and 100% in patients with N1 or N0 pathological lymph nodes. Conclusion: The pathological stage was associated with survival. The presence of pathological N3 lymph nodes resulted in lower progression-free survival and lower overall survival. Regardless of age, patients with good performance, who are not frail, and who have no comorbidities should be encouraged to receive current therapy.