Objective: To analyze the clinical characteristics and therapeutics of elderly patients with breast carcinomas.
Methods: A total of 312 patients ( ≥ 70 years old) admitted into Breast Center of Beijing Hospital from September 1997 to September 2011 were included for this retrospective study. Their clinical characteristics, treatment options and prognostic factors were analyzed.
Results: They accounted for 14.6% (312/2137) of breast cancer patients treated during the same period. The predominant complaint was palpable mass (n = 250, 80.1%). 90.4% (n = 282) of them were complicated with other diseases. The major pathologic type was invasive ductal carcinoma of non-special type (n = 248, 79.5%). The positive rate of estrogen receptor (ER) and(or) progesterone receptor (PR) was 75.3% (n = 235), and 15.7% (n = 49) cases were Cerb-B2 (+ + +) . The 5, 10-year overall survival were 75.0% and 41.8% respectively. TNM stage, vascular thrombosis, operative regimen and adjuvant therapy were prognostic factors.
Conclusions: Surgical operation and endocrine therapy are the first choice remedies for elderly patients. And the major prognostic factors are TNM stage, vascular thrombosis and treatment regimens.