Zeitschrift für molekulare Biomarker und Diagnose

Breast Cancer in Women of Younger than 35 Years: A Single Center Study

Abstract

Umesh Das, Lakshmaiah KC, Lokanatha D, Govind Babu K, Linu Jacob and Suresh Babu

Aim: Breast cancer in women younger than 35 years old is uncommon and only accounts for 2% of all breast cancers diagnosed in Western countries. However, there is paucity of data on breast cancer in women younger than 35 years old in India. The aim of this study was to assess clinicopathological parameters in these young breast cancer patients.

Methods: This retrospective study summarized data on women younger than 35 years with breast cancer between August 2012 and July 2013 from tertiary cancer center in India.

Results: Out of a total of 320 patients, 36 were younger than 35 years old in this period of time and the median age was 32 years. A breast lump was the most commonly presented symptom with an average symptom duration of four months. The median age of the first childbirth was 22 years. Most of the patients had a stage III disease (52%) followed by stage II (33%). All patients had invasive ductal carcinoma and 86% of patients had high-grade tumors. 51% of patients were lymphnode-positive, and lympho vascular emboli were present in 43% of cases. Estrogen receptor (ER)/progesterone receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) positivity occurred in 38.9% and 22.2% of patients, respectively and 50% of patients were triple negative.

Conclusion: Breast cancer occurring in women younger than 35 years old constituted 11.3% of all breast cancer cases in Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, India. They had high tumor grade with a larger size and an increased incidence of lympho vascular emboli, which lead to aggressive behaviors and poor prognosis. This study suggest that early onset of breast cancer must be considered as a diagnostic possibility in Indian patients presenting palpable masses in the mammary glands.