Breast cancer in young women treated definitively with radiotherapy

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Abstract
Between 1977-1982, 34 breast cancers in 33 women aged .ltoreq. 35 yr were treated with primary radiotherapy following excisional biopsy and axillary lymph node dissection. The records of these cases were reviewed and compared to 156 women > age 35 with 157 breast cancers treated similarly during the same period. Analysis of these cases was limited to patients with invasive cancers who were AJC Stages I or II. In the women .ltoreq. age 35, there were only 6 failures (2 with locoregional failure only and 4 with distant metastases). The treated breast was preserved in all of the younger women except for the 2 patients with locoregional failure only who were treated for salvage with a mastectomy. The actuarial freedom from breast relapse alone at 3 yr was 96% in women .ltoreq. 35 yr vs. 97% in women > 35 yr. Freedom from locoregional relapse only was 88% vs. 95% at 3 yr in the above groups, and the actuarial disease-free survival at 3 yr was 76% vs. 87%, respectively. None of the above comparisons between younger and older women are statistically different. Definitive radiation therapy for Stages I and II carcinoma of the breast in women .ltoreq. age yields similar results to those for women > 35. Such treatment achieves excellent preservation of the breast and should continue to be considered as an alternative to mastectomy.