Breast cancer in women under 40 years of age

Purpose: It is widely believed that breast cancer in young women is characterized by a relatively unfavorable prognosis and unusual pathological features. The aim of this study was to investigate clinicopathological and biological characteristics in young patients with breast cancer Methods: The study enrolled 1029 consecutive female breast cancer patients who were admitted to the Clinical Centre Nis between July 2002 and December 2008. Results: 91 (8.8%) patients were under and 938 (91.2%) were over 40 years. The mean age was 35.9 years for those under 40 years and 58.3 for those older than 40 years. In both patient groups, left breast was most commonly involved; the most common primary tumor site was the upper lateral quadrant; the most common histological type was ductal carcinoma; histological and nuclear grade 2 was most common. In the younger group of patients, the proportion of patients with T3 and T4 disease was higher (13.0 vs. 9.3% and 16.5 vs. 12.0%), the number of patients with histological and nuclear grade 3 disease was higher (27.5 vs. 24.7% and 37.4 vs. 33.2%), the proportion of patients with 4-9 and >10 positive lymph nodes was higher (22.6 vs. 18.3% and 7.1 vs. 4.0%), and the percentage of family history of breast cancer was higher (5.5 vs. 3.1%), without statistically significant differences between the two age groups. Patients in the younger age group exhibited higher estrogen (ER)/progesterone (PR) receptor negativity (32.6 vs. 24.4%) (p<0.05). Conclusion: Although uncommon, breast cancer in young women is worth special attention. The underlying causes of the disease must be investigated in large population-based studies in the future.