OPTIMIZATION OF BREAST CANCER MANAGEMENT ACCORDING TO THE AGE IN FEMALE PATIENTS

Abstract

Background: Age at diagnosis plays a crucial role in determining the clinical presentation, treatment decisions, and outcomes in breast cancer. Both younger and older women exhibit unique clinicopathological characteristics that influence therapeutic approaches. However, data on age-specific management trends in the local population remain limited, particularly in the context of modern treatment modalities.

Objective: To determine the type of breast cancer management among female patients according to age group and to assess the association between age and treatment modality.

Methods: A descriptive study was conducted in the Department of Surgery, Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar, over six months following ethical approval. A total of 147 female patients aged 20–80 years, newly diagnosed with breast cancer, were enrolled using non-probability consecutive sampling. Patients were categorized as young (≤40 years) or elderly (>40 years). Data on demographics, disease characteristics, and initial treatment modalities were collected using a structured proforma and analyzed using IBM SPSS version 25. Chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests were applied, with p ≤ 0.05 considered statistically significant.

Results: The mean age of patients was 47.2 ± 12.8 years, and the mean BMI was 27.4 ± 4.1 kg/m². Surgical therapy was the most common initial management (59.9%), followed by neoadjuvant chemotherapy (23.8%) and endocrine therapy (16.3%). Elderly patients were more likely to receive surgical and endocrine therapies, whereas younger patients more frequently received chemotherapy. Surgical management predominated in Stage I and II disease, while chemotherapy was more common in advanced stages and receptor-negative cases.

Conclusion: Age significantly influenced treatment selection, with elderly patients more likely to receive endocrine therapy and younger women undergoing multimodal treatments. Findings underscore the need for individualized, evidence-based management tailored to age, tumor biology, and disease stage.