Abstract:

Objective

To retrospectively analyze the clinicopathological characteristics of breast cancer in young women and explore its onset characteristics, so as to provide references for clinical diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer in young female patients.

Methods

The clinicopathological characteristics and the immunohistochemical data of 106 young (≤35 years) and 435 elderly (＞35 years) female patients with breast cancer pathologically confirmed in Shenzhen Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital Affiliated to Southern Medical University from January 2007 to December 2012 were collected and comparatively analyzed. Chi-square test was used for enumeration data.

Results

Young patients accounted for 19.6% (106/541) of all breast cancer patients treated in the hospital during the same period. Invasive ductal carcinoma was the major pathological type (86.8%,92/106). Compared with elderly patients, histological grading (grade Ⅱ/Ⅲ) [93.4% (99/106) vs 85.3% (371/435)], rate of axillary node metastases [37.7%(40/106) vs 26.2%(114/435)] and positive rate of HER-2 [52.8% (56/106) vs 40.7% (177/435)] in young patients were higher, but the positive rates of ER [57.5%(61/106) vs 68.5%(298/435)] and PR [60.4%(64/106) vs 70.3%(306/435)] were lower(P＜0.050). There were no significant differences in tumor size, pathological types and P53 level between these two groups (P ＞0.050).

Conclusion

Breast cancer in young women has its specific clinicopathological characteristics,including higher histological grade, higher rate of axillary nodes metastases and higher positive rate of HER-2, lower positive rates of ER and PR, and higher degree of malignancy, so the surgeon should pay more attention to early diagnosis and clinical treatment of young women with breast cancer.

Key words: young adult, breast neoplasms, clinical pathology, immunohistochemistry