Rates of disease-specific mortality are higher in older breast cancer patients, a new US study finds, stressing the need for age-specific breast cancer studies to improve outcomes for patients of all ages.
After analysing almost 10, 000 post menopausal patients diagnosed with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, researchers concluded that -- regardless of a higher risk of other-cause mortality among older patients -- disease-specific mortality and risk of relapse increased with age.
Data published in JAMA showed incidents of death due to breast cancer increased from 5.7% in patients diagnosed younger than 65 to 6.3% in patients diagnosed 65-74 years and 8.3% in patients diagnosed 75 and older.
Researchers offered several possible explanations for the results, including lower odds of receiving standard care,...
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