scholarly journals Breast Cancer Among the Oldest Old: Tumor Characteristics, Treatment Choices, and Survival

2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (12) ◽  
pp. 2038-2045 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mara A. Schonberg ◽  
Edward R. Marcantonio ◽  
Donglin Li ◽  
Rebecca A. Silliman ◽  
Long Ngo ◽  
...  

Purpose Few data are available on breast cancer characteristics, treatment, and survival for women age 80 years or older. Patients and Methods We used the linked Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results-Medicare data set from 1992 to 2003 to examine tumor characteristics, treatments (mastectomy, breast-conserving surgery [BCS] with radiation therapy or alone, or no surgery), and outcomes of women age 80 years or older (80 to 84, 85 to 89, ≥ 90 years) with stage I/II breast cancer compared with younger women (age 67 to 79 years). We used Cox proportional hazard models to examine the impact of age on breast cancer–related and other causes of death. Analyses were performed within stage, adjusted for tumor and sociodemographic characteristics, treatments received, and comorbidities. Results In total, 49,616 women age 67 years or older with stage I/II disease were included. Tumor characteristics (grade, hormone receptivity) were similar across age groups. Treatment with BCS alone increased with age, especially after age 80. The risk of dying from breast cancer increased with age, significantly after age 80. For stage I disease, the adjusted hazard ratio of dying from breast cancer for women age ≥ 90 years compared with women age 67 to 69 years was 2.6 (range, 2.0 to 3.4). Types of treatments received were significantly associated with age and comorbidity, with age as the stronger predictor (26% of women age ≥ 80 years without comorbidity received BCS alone or no surgery compared with 6% of women age 67 to 79 years). Conclusion Women age ≥ 80 years have breast cancer characteristics similar to those of younger women yet receive less aggressive treatment and experience higher mortality from early-stage breast cancer. Future studies should focus on identifying tumor and patient characteristics to help target treatments to the oldest women most likely to benefit.

1999 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 1727-1727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Whelan ◽  
Mark Levine ◽  
Amiram Gafni ◽  
Kenneth Sanders ◽  
Andrew Willan ◽  
...  

PURPOSE: To develop an instrument to help clinicians inform their patients about surgical treatment options for the treatment of breast cancer and to evaluate the impact of the instrument on the clinical encounter. METHODS: We developed an instrument, called the Decision Board, to present information regarding the benefits and risks of breast-conserving therapy (lumpectomy plus radiation therapy) and mastectomy to women with early-stage breast cancer to enable them to express a preference for the type of surgery. Seven surgeons from different communities in Ontario administered the instrument to women with newly diagnosed clinical stage I or II breast cancer over an 18-month period. Patients and surgeons were interviewed regarding acceptability of the instrument. The rates of breast-conserving surgery performed by surgeons before and after the introduction of the instrument were compared. RESULTS: The Decision Board was administered to 175 patients; 98% reported that the Decision Board was easy to understand, and 81% indicated that it helped them make a decision. The average score on a true/false test of comprehension was 11.8 of 14 (84%) (range, 6 to 14). Surgeons found the Decision Board to be helpful in presenting information to patients in 91% of consultations. The rate of breast-conserving surgery decreased when the Decision Board was introduced (88% v 73%, P = .001) CONCLUSION: The Decision Board is a simple method to improve communication and facilitate shared decision making. It was well accepted by patients and surgeons and easily applied in the community.


2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (36) ◽  
pp. 5710-5714 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael F. Scheier ◽  
Vicki S. Helgeson ◽  
Richard Schulz ◽  
Suzanne Colvin ◽  
Sarah L. Berga ◽  
...  

Purpose To identify factors that condition or moderate the impact of a previously described set of interventions on psychological and physical adjustment after diagnosis and treatment for early-stage breast cancer. Patients and Methods Younger women (age < 51 years, N = 252) with early-stage breast cancer within 2 months of having completed active nonhormonal adjuvant therapy were randomly assigned to a three-arm clinical trial, consisting of a control arm, an education arm, and a nutrition arm. Primary end points, assessed before random assignment and 4 and 13 months later, included mental functioning, physical functioning, and depressive symptoms. Four types of moderator variables were identified, including two sets reflecting psychosocial resources, specifically personality factors and factors related to the person's social environment, a set reflecting demographic variables, and a set reflecting treatment and disease variables (including comorbidities). Results Psychosocial factors were more likely to moderate treatment effects than were demographic and disease-related factors, but the moderating effects of these psychosocial factors were limited to patients receiving the nutrition intervention. Patients with lower psychosocial resources benefited from the nutrition intervention, whereas patients with a greater amount of psychosocial resources did not. Conclusion Future trials of this type should stratify by or select for the moderating variables identified here (ie, dispositional pessimism, unmitigated communion, and negative social interaction) to establish more firmly their role in responses to psychosocial interventions. Effort should also be made to collect data to inform the delivery of interventions to those who might benefit the most.


BMC Cancer ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Youssef Bouferraa ◽  
Yolla Haibe ◽  
Andrea Chedid ◽  
Elio Jabra ◽  
Maya Charafeddine ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The role of young age (< 40 years) at diagnosis as an independent risk factor for adverse outcomes in female patients with breast cancer has been highlighted in several studies. In this prospective study, we assessed the difference in 10-year survival between two groups of patients diagnosed with non-metastatic breast cancer based on an age cutoff of 40 years. We also assessed the impact of factors including tumor characteristics, molecular markers and immunohistochemical markers on survival outcomes, highlighting the interaction of those variables with age. Methods A total of 119 female patients with newly diagnosed non-metastatic breast cancer were recruited at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) between July 2011 and May 2014. Patients were recruited and divided into 2 age groups (< 40 and ≥ 40 years). In addition to clinical characteristics, we assessed immunohistochemistry including estrogen, progesterone and HER2 receptors, p53, cyclin B1, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR), and ki-67. Germline BRCA mutations were also performed on peripheral blood samples. Patient and tumor characteristics were compared between the age groups. 10-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were estimated accordingly. Cox regression analysis was performed in order to assess the effect of the different variables on clinical outcomes. Results After a median Follow-up of 96 (13–122) months, the estimated 10-year OS was 98.6% for patients ≥40 as compared to 77.6% in patients < 40 (p = 0.001). A similar trend was found for 10-year DFS reaching 90% for patients ≥40 and 70.4% for those < 40 (p = 0.004). On multivariate analysis for DFS and OS, only younger age (< 40 years), higher stage and triple negative phenotype among other parameters assessed significantly affected the outcome in this cohort. Conclusion This prospective study confirms the association between younger age and adverse survival outcomes in patients with non-metastatic breast cancer. Future studies of the whole genome sequences may reveal the genomic basis underlying the clinical differences we have observed.


2001 ◽  
Vol 19 (8) ◽  
pp. 2254-2262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Morrow ◽  
Julia White ◽  
Jennifer Moughan ◽  
Jean Owen ◽  
Thomas Pajack ◽  
...  

PURPOSE: To define patterns of care for the local therapy of stage I and II breast cancer and to identify factors used to select patients for breast-conserving therapy (BCT). PATIENTS AND METHODS: A convenience sample of 16,643 patients with stage I and II breast cancer treated in 1994 was obtained from hospital-based tumor registries. Histologic variables were determined from original pathology reports. RESULTS: BCT was performed in 42.6% of patients. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that living in the Northeast United States (odds ratio [OR], 2.48; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.16 to 2.84), having a clinical T1 tumor (OR, 2.51; 95% CI, 2.27 to 2.78), and having a tumor without an extensive intraductal component (OR, 2.07; 95% CI, 1.81 to 2.37) were the strongest predictors of breast-conserving surgery. Radiation therapy was given to 86% of patients who had breast-conserving surgery. Age less than 70 years was the most significant predictor of receiving radiation (OR, 2.11; 95% CI, 1.77 to 2.25). Tumor variables did not correlate with the use of radiation, but favorable tumor characteristics were associated with the use of breast-conserving surgery. CONCLUSION: Despite strong evidence supporting the use of BCT, the majority of women continue to be treated with mastectomy. Predictors of the use of BCT do not correspond to those suggested in guidelines.


2011 ◽  
Vol 29 (12) ◽  
pp. 1570-1577 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mara A. Schonberg ◽  
Edward R. Marcantonio ◽  
Long Ngo ◽  
Donglin Li ◽  
Rebecca A. Silliman ◽  
...  

Purpose To understand the impact of breast cancer on older women's survival, we compared survival of older women diagnosed with breast cancer with matched controls. Methods Using the linked 1992 to 2003 Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) -Medicare data set, we identified women age 67 years or older who were newly diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) or breast cancer. We identified women not diagnosed with breast cancer from the 5% random sample of Medicare beneficiaries residing in SEER areas. We matched patient cases to controls by birth year and registry (99% or 66,039 patient cases matched successfully). We assigned the start of follow-up for controls as the patient cases' date of diagnosis. Mortality data were available through 2006. We compared survival of women with breast cancer by stage with survival of controls using multivariable proportional hazards models adjusting for age at diagnosis, comorbidity, prior mammography use, and sociodemographics. We repeated these analyses stratifying by age. Results Median follow-up time was 7.7 years. Differences between patient cases and controls in sociodemographics and comorbidities were small (< 4%). Women diagnosed with DCIS (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 0.7; 95% CI, 0.7 to 0.7) or stage I disease (aHR, 0.8; 95% CI, 0.8 to 0.8) had slightly lower mortality than controls. Women diagnosed with stage II disease or higher had greater mortality than controls (stage II disease: aHR, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.2 to 1.2). The association of a breast cancer diagnosis with mortality declined with age among women with advanced disease. Conclusion Compared with matched controls, a diagnosis of DCIS or stage I breast cancer in older women is associated with better survival, whereas a diagnosis of stage II or higher breast cancer is associated with worse survival.


2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmedin Jemal ◽  
Anthony S. Robbins ◽  
Chun Chieh Lin ◽  
W. Dana Flanders ◽  
Carol E. DeSantis ◽  
...  

Purpose To estimate the contribution of differences in demographics, comorbidity, insurance, tumor characteristics, and treatment to the overall mortality disparity between nonelderly black and white women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer. Patients and Methods Excess relative risk of all-cause death in black versus white women diagnosed with stage I to III breast cancer, expressed as a percentage and stratified by hormone receptor status for each variable (demographics, comorbidity, insurance, tumor characteristics, and treatment) in sequentially, propensity-scored, optimally matched patients by using multivariable hazard ratios (HRs). Results We identified 563,497 white and black women 18 to 64 years of age diagnosed with stage I to III breast cancer from 2004 to 2013 in the National Cancer Data Base. Among women with hormone receptor–positive disease, who represented 78.5% of all patients, the HR for death in black versus white women in the demographics-matched model was 2.05 (95% CI, 1.94 to 2.17). The HR decreased to 1.93 (95% CI, 1.83 to 2.04), 1.54 (95% CI, 1.47 to 1.62), 1.30 (95% CI, 1.24 to 1.36), and 1.25 (95% CI, 1.19 to 1.31) when sequentially matched for comorbidity, insurance, tumor characteristics, and treatment, respectively. These factors combined accounted for 76.3% of the total excess risk of death in black patients; insurance accounted for 37.0% of the total excess, followed by tumor characteristics (23.2%), comorbidities (11.3%), and treatment (4.8%). Results generally were similar among women with hormone receptor–negative disease, although the HRs were substantially smaller. Conclusion Matching by insurance explained one third of the excess risk of death among nonelderly black versus white women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer; matching by tumor characteristics explained approximately one fifth of the excess risk. Efforts to focus on equalization of access to care could substantially reduce ethnic/racial disparities in overall survival among nonelderly women diagnosed with breast cancer.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. e1-e9
Author(s):  
Farah F. Quyyumi ◽  
Jason D. Wright ◽  
Melissa K. Accordino ◽  
Donna Buono ◽  
Cynthia W. Law ◽  
...  

PURPOSE: Follow-up guidelines vary widely among national organizations for patients with early-stage breast cancer treated with curative intent. We sought to evaluate the patterns and predictors of provider follow-up care within the first 5 years after diagnosis. METHODS: Using the SEER-Medicare linked data set, we evaluated patients who were diagnosed with stage I and II breast cancer who underwent breast-conserving surgery from 2002 to 2007 with follow-up until 2012. We defined discontinuation of follow-up as > 12 months from the previous physician visit without a visit claim from either a surgeon, medical oncologist, or radiation oncologist. We performed a multivariable logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards regression analysis to determine factors associated with the discontinuation of follow-up care. RESULTS: Of the 30,053 patients enrolled in our initial cohort, 25,781 (85.8%) saw a medical oncologist and 21,612 (71.9%) saw a radiation oncologist in the first year in addition to a surgeon. Over the 5 years, 6,302 patients (21.0%) discontinued follow-up visits. Discontinuation of physician visits increased with increasing age. Women with stage II cancer ( v stage I) were less likely to discontinue follow-up visits (odds ratio, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.73 to 0.83). Time to early discontinuation was greater for patients with hormone receptor–negative tumors (hazard ratio, 1.14; 95% CI, 1.05 to 1.24). Women who were diagnosed more recently were less likely to discontinue seeing any physician. CONCLUSION: Twenty-one percent of patients with early-stage breast cancer discontinued seeing any oncology provider over the 5 years after diagnosis. Coordination of follow-up care between oncology specialists may reduce discontinuation rates and increase clinical efficiency.


2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 7563-7563
Author(s):  
Gayathri Nagaraj ◽  
Janakiraman Subramanian ◽  
Feng Gao ◽  
Siddhartha Devarakonda ◽  
Ramaswamy Govindan

7563 Background: CM risk has been identified as a potential confounder in the interpretation of treatment effects in head and neck cancer (Rose et al. J Clin Oncol. 2011). Lung cancer patients (pts) are at considerable risk for CM due to their advanced age at diagnosis and smoking related chronic diseases. We plan to identify risk factors for CM in pts with early stage NSCLC and develop a statistical model to estimate the effect of CM on power calculation for lung cancer clinical trials. Methods: Using SEER registry we identified 32104 pts who had undergone surgical resection with or without radiation for stage I and II NSCLC between 1994 and 2006. The data set was split into two groups: training set (75%) and testing set (25%). Risk factors for lung cancer-specific mortality (LCSM) and CM were identified using training data by Gray’s sub-distribution regression of competing risk. Pts from the testing data were then stratified according to CM risk and the impact of this risk on power loss was evaluated. Results: The 5-year cumulative incidence of death from lung cancer, other causes and overall mortality was 32.7%, 14.2% and 46.9% respectively. Risk factors for CM were: age (hazard ratio [HR] 1.05), male gender (HR 1.43), divorced (HR 1.30), widowed (HR 1.23) or single (HR 1.29) marital status, squamous (HR 1.40) or not-otherwise-specified (HR 1.22) histology, stage I NSCLC (HR 1.27) and sublobar resection (HR 1.23). The 5-year cumulative incidence of CM in low, mid and high-risk tertiles was 7%, 14% and 21% respectively. Sample size calculations based on all-cause mortality (ACM) result in over-estimation of power as the risk for CM increases. In order to restore the underestimated power in LCSM, 19% and 35% more pts are required in the mid and high CM risk groups respectively (Table). Conclusions: Our findings indicate that conventional sample size calculation methods can result in significant loss of power and incorporating CM risk models in power estimation should be considered for clinical trials involving early stage NSCLC pts. [Table: see text]


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 7015-7015
Author(s):  
Winnie Chi ◽  
Ravi Bharat Parikh ◽  
Ezra Fishman ◽  
Robert Paul Zimmerman ◽  
Atul Gupta ◽  
...  

7015 Background: While hypofractionated radiation (HFR) after breast-conserving surgery is a cost-effective, patient-centered treatment in early-stage breast cancer (ESBC), less than 40% of eligible women received it in 2013. In 2016, a large commercial payer implemented a utilization management policy to encourage HFR for eligible women through denying reimbursement for extended-course radiation. We assessed the impact of the policy on HFR use and associated spending. Methods: We conducted a retrospective, adjusted difference-in-differences analysis using administrative claims of women continuously enrolled in 14 geographically diverse commercial health plans covering 6.9% of US adult women. The study population included women aged 18 or older with ESBC who were eligible for HFR according to 2011 guidelines from the American Society for Radiation Oncology. Women who received mastectomy, brachytherapy, or < 11 or > 40 external beam fractions were excluded. We compared HFR use and associated spending between women in fully-insured and Medicare Advantage (fully-insured) plans for whom the policy applied vs. self-insured or Medicare supplemental insurance (self-insured) plans for whom the policy did not apply. We adjusted for age, comorbidity, region, Medicare enrollment, and prior chemotherapy. Results: Among 10,540 eligible women, 3,619 (34%) were in fully insured plans and thus subject to the policy. There were no meaningful differences in mean age (63.8 vs. 65.0), Charlson comorbidity index (3.0 vs. 3.2), or practice setting between the fully-insured and self-insured groups. The policy was associated with an increase in HFR (4.2 adjusted percentage point difference-in-difference [ppd], 95% CI 0.0 to 8.4, p = 0.051) and a non-significant decrease in radiotherapy-associated expenditures (-$2,275, p = 0.09). Spillover analyses revealed significantly higher uptake of HFR among self-insured patients who were indirectly exposed to the policy through seeing the providers who also treated fulled insured women (8.5 adjusted ppd, 95% CI 3.6 to 13.5, p = 0.001), compared to those who were not exposed. Conclusions: A payer’s utilization management policy was associated with direct and spillover increases in HFR use, even after accounting for a strong secular trend towards increased hypofractionation use. However, policymakers must balance the impact of this and similar policies against their additional administrative costs.


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