A Accurso

C Rispoli

D De Vito

JW Bradbeer

L Iannone

N Rocco

English

PubMed

Crossref

Early breast cancer in elderly women: surgery or primary endocrine therapy?

Accurso A

De Vito D

Rispoli C

Iannone L

Rocco N

Directory of Open Access Journals

BMC Geriatrics

Springer - Publisher Connector

MEETING ABSTRACT Open Access
Early breast cancer in elderly women:
surgery or primary endocrine therapy?
N Rocco*, L Iannone, C Rispoli, D De Vito, A Accurso
From de Senectute: Age and Health Forum
Catanzaro, Italy. 5-7 December 2009
Background
Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in
women. Up to 30% of all breast cancers are reported to
occur in the over 70 year age group and these percen-
tages may increase in the near future as the mean age of
the general population grows up.
The standard treatment for early breast cancer in
women of all ages was surgery until the late 1970s,
when primary endocrine therapy was first described as
an alternative to standard therapy for older women
(Bradbeer 1983). Primary endocrine therapy means the
use of Tamoxifen, without surgery, radiotherapy or
chemotherapy.
The incidence of significant co-morbidity is greater in
the elderly, making general anaesthesia more hazardous.
Material and methods
From January 2008 to July 2009 we treated 68 women
older than 70 years (mean age 73 years). 59 of them
were surgically treated (mastectomy and axillary lym-
phoadenectomy or conserving surgery and axillary
sentinel node biopsy with or without adjuvant endocrine
therapy) and 9 of them were treated with primary endo-
crine therapy (7 of them were older than 80 years and
two between 70 and 79). 5 of them had been considered
unfit for surgery because of their poor general condition
and 4 refused surgery. For all them we assessed the oes-
trogen receptor status, performing a core-biopsy. All
women were affected by ER-positive tumours.
Results and discussion
At a mean follow up of 9 months only one patient of 68
died for causes not related to breast cancer.
Nowadays very few people result unfit for surgery
because breast conserving surgery has made morbidity
and mortality rates very low. However we can consider
primary endocrine therapy for women with ER-positive
tumours with serious co-morbidity or who refuse
surgery.
We can assert that in a group of women with reduced
life expectancy and ER-positive tumours, primary endo-
crine therapy may be an appropriate treatment choice.
Moreover more trials are needed to evaluate the clinical
effectiveness of aromatase inhibitors as primary therapy
for old women with ER-positive tumours.
Published: 19 May 2010
Reference
1. Bradbeer JW, Kyngdon J: Primary treatment of breast cancer in elderly
women with Tamoxifen. Clinical Oncology 1983, 9:31-4.
doi:10.1186/1471-2318-10-S1-A31
Cite this article as: Rocco et al.: Early breast cancer in elderly women:
surgery or primary endocrine therapy?. BMC Geriatrics 2010 10(Suppl 1):
A31.
Submit your next manuscript to BioMed Central
and take full advantage of: 
• Convenient online submission
• Thorough peer review
• No space constraints or color figure charges
• Immediate publication on acceptance
• Inclusion in PubMed, CAS, Scopus and Google Scholar
• Research which is freely available for redistribution
Submit your manuscript at 
www.biomedcentral.com/submit
Dipartimento di Chirurgia Generale e Geriatrica ed Endoscopia Diagnostica
ed Operativa, Università degli Studi di Napoli ‘Federico II’, Napoli
Rocco et al. BMC Geriatrics 2010, 10(Suppl 1):A31
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2318/10/S1/A31
© 2010 Rocco et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.


Primary treatment of breast cancer in elderly women with Tamoxifen. Clinical Oncology

Submit your next manuscript to BioMed Central and take full advantage of: • Convenient online submission • Thorough peer review • No space constraints or color ﬁgure charges • Immediate publication on acceptance

file:///data/core-remote/dit/data/Springer-OA/pdf/90a/aHR0cDovL2xpbmsuc3ByaW5nZXIuY29tLzEwLjExODYvMTQ3MS0yMzE4LTEwLVMxLUEzMS5wZGY=.pdf

Early breast cancer in elderly women: surgery or primary endocrine therapy?

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Crossref

Directory of Open Access Journals

Springer - Publisher Connector