| Differences in the management of older women with breast cancer are associated with poorer survival
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancer forms in the developed world. The risk of breast cancer increases with age and around one third of the patients are aged 70 years or older at diagnosis. Due to early detection by mammography and to the development of treatments and treatment guidelines the risk of dying of the disease has decreased. The risk of dying of the disease seems, however, to be age-dependent and increases with age. In one study, conducted in one health-care region in Sweden, over 9000 women aged 50-84 years diagnosed with primary breast cancer between 1992 and 2002 were investigated. The results showed that the 5-year relative survival of women between 70-84 years of age was up to 13% lower compared to women aged 50-69 years. One main reason for this difference was that older women were diagnosed at a more advanced stage of the disease than were younger women. Older women were also less likely to receive mammography screening. Within stages, the difference in survival was most pronounced in women who had been shown to have more advanced disease or in whom no assessment of the stage of the disease had been made. Older women were also less likely to be fully investigated for their cancer, and had less aggressive treatment with radiotherapy or chemotherapy. The results of this study show clearly that evidence-based clinical treatment guidelines urgently need to be established for older women with breast cancer.
Bibliographical reference:
Sonja
Eaker
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