Purpose: To compare the histopathological features and survival of triple-negative breast carcinomas (TBNC) in younger and older women.
Methods: We documented 312 patients with TBNC between 2008 and 2013. The histopathological and clinical features of women who were 35 years old or younger (N=53) were compared to those of women who were 60 years old and older (N=58). Patients were administered adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and adjuvant radiotherapy.
Results: We diagnosed and treated a total of 312 patients with TNBC. The median follow-up was 38 months (mean ±SD:37.36; range: 0.2-383.4). The median age of the younger patients was 32 years (mean ±SD:31.6 ± 3.72; range:19-36) and of older patients 67 years (mean ±SD: 68.21 ± 6.78; range:60-84). The tumor size in young patients was larger than in older patients (p=0.001). More comorbid diseases were observed in older patients than in younger ones (p=0.001). There was no difference in the histological grades, lymphovascular invasion, stage and nodal involvement between the two groups. Local / distant metastases were found in 11 (40.7%) patients in the young patient group and in 16 (59.3%) in old patient group (p=0.704). Three (5.4%) patients died from each group. No significant difference in terms of disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) (p=0.914, p=0.939, respectively) was noticed.
Conclusion: This study showed that older and younger patients with TNBC had similar survival with neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy and adjuvant radiotherapy, which may be due to similar histopathologic features and intrinsic tumors' activity.