Surgical treatment for elderly breast cancer patients over the age of 70.

Because elderly breast cancer patients differ in various biological characteristics from younger patients, it is important to clarify the clinical characteristics and treatment results of elderly patients with this disease. A total of 332 breast cancer cases (327 patients) who received surgery were divided into three groups, consisting of a premenopause group younger than 50 years of age (group A, N = 144), a postmenopause group younger than 70 years of age (group B, N = 140), and elderly cases 70 years of age or older (group C, N = 48). A positive node involvement was seen in about 40% of all cases, but the lymph node positivity of group C was significantly lower than that of group A or B. The postoperative 5-year survival rates of groups A, B, and C were 88.9%, 87.5%, and 89.4% at all stages, and 90.2%, 86.2%, and 91.4% at stages I and II, respectively. Only in group C did survival rates show no significant difference between node status. We conclude that both radical and cosmetic surgical treatments performed in elderly breast cancer patients aged 70 years or older are as effective as in younger breast cancer patients.