Breast cancer in young and very young women; Is age related to outcome?

Construction and validation of nomogram for the cancer-specific mortality for HER2-positive breast cancer patients

The cancer-specific mortality (CSM) of patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 positive (HER2+) breast cancer remains dismal and varies widely from person to person. Therefore, we aim to construct a nomogram to predict CSM in HER2+ breast cancer using data from the surveillance, epidemiology, and end results (SEER) database. The clinicopathological data of patients diagnosed with HER2+ breast cancer from 2000 to 2019 were selected from the SEER database. Independent prognostic factors for CSM of patients were identified by competing risk model. Subsequently, we constructed a new predicting nomogram. Calibration curves, receiver operating characteristic curve, and decision curve were used to evaluate the efficiency of the nomogram. A total of 45,362 breast cancer patients in the SEER database were selected for study and randomly separated into training (n = 31,753) and validation (n = 13,609) cohorts. Univariate and multivariate analysis showed that age, race, tumor grade, clinical stage, T stage, surgery status, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and regional nodes examined were independent risk factors for CSM of HER2+ breast cancer patients. Receiver operating characteristic curves for the prediction nomogram of the CSM for breast cancer patients indicated that the 1-, 3- and 5-year AUCs were 0.874, 0.843, and 0.820 in the training cohort and 0.861, 0.845, and 0.825 in the validation cohort, respectively. The c-index was 0.817 and 0.821 in training cohort and validation cohort, respectively. Moreover, a good agreement was seen between the observed outcome and the predicted probabilities in the calibration curves of the nomogram in training cohort and validation cohort. Further decision curve analysis demonstrated good clinical utilities of the nomogram in training cohort and validation cohort. The nomogram shows good accuracy and reliability in predicting the CSM of breast cancer patients, and it could provide some theoretical support for clinicians to make decisions.

Global epidemiology of breast cancer based on risk factors: a systematic review

Background

Numerous reviews of the epidemiology and risk factors for breast cancer have been published previously which heighted different directions of breast cancer.

Aim

The present review examined the likelihood that incidence, prevalence, and particular risk factors might vary by geographic region and possibly by food and cultural practices as well.

Methods

A systematic review (2017-2022) was conducted following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, reporting on epidemiological and risk factor reports from different world regions. Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) terms: "Breast neoplasm" "AND" country terms such as "Pakistan/epidemiology", "India/epidemiology", "North America/epidemiology", "South Africa/epidemiology" were used to retrieve 2068 articles from PubMed. After applying inclusion and exclusion terms, 49 papers were selected for systematic review.

Results

Results of selected articles were summarized based on risk factors, world regions and study type. Risk factors were classified into five categories: demographic, genetic and lifestyle risk factors varied among countries. This review article covers a variety of topics, including regions, main findings, and associated risk factors such as genetic factors, and lifestyle. Several studies revealed that lifestyle choices including diet and exercise could affect a person's chance of developing breast cancer. Breast cancer risk has also been linked to genetic variables, including DNA repair gene polymorphisms and mutations in the breast cancer gene (BRCA). It has been found that most of the genetic variability links to the population of Asia while the cause of breast cancer due to lifestyle modifications has been found in American and British people, indicating that demographic, genetic, and, lifestyle risk factors varied among countries.

Conclusion

There are many risk factors for breast cancer, which vary in their importance depending on the world region. However, further investigation is required to better comprehend the particular causes of breast cancer in these areas as well as to create efficient prevention and treatment plans that cater to the local population.

Osteoporosis Associated with Breast Cancer Treatments Based on Types of Hormonal Therapy: A Cross-Sectional Study Using Korean National Sample Data

Background and Objectives: This study aimed to investigate osteoporosis-related treatments and the overall anticancer drug treatment tendencies, with a focus on selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) and aromatase inhibitors (AIs), in Korean patients with breast cancer from 2010 to 2019. Materials and Methods: Data were obtained from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. Patients with breast cancer (International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision code: C50) as a principal diagnosis at least once from 2010 to 2019 were included. Those with osteoporosis (M80, M81, or M82) as a principal or sub-diagnosis or those who received osteoporosis treatment at least once were categorized as the osteoporosis-related treatment group, and others as the non-osteoporosis-related treatment group. The trends of drug prescriptions and treatment costs in patient groups were evaluated using descriptive statistics. Results: Among all included patients, those aged 45-54 years (40.20%) without osteoporosis treatment and those aged 55-64 years (34.11%) with osteoporosis treatment were the most common. SERM was the most commonly prescribed anticancer drug (29.20%) in the entire patient group, followed by AIs (20.83%). Patients without osteoporosis treatment had the highest prescription rate of SERM (31.48%), and those with osteoporosis treatment had a higher prescription rate of AIs (34.28%). Additionally, SERM and AIs were prescribed most frequently before and after the age of 55 years, respectively, regardless of the presence of treatment. Conclusions: This study found that osteoporosis-related treatment and patient age were associated with anticancer drug prescriptions. The present findings would help clinicians and researchers in the clinical diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.

Identification of age differences in cancer-related symptoms in women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer in China

BACKGROUND

Both contextual and cancer-related factors could be identified as causes of the interindividual variability observed for symptoms experienced during breast cancer treatment with chemotherapy. Understanding age differences and the predictors of latent class memberships for symptom heterogeneity could contribute to personalized interventions. This study aimed to identify the role of age differences on cancer-related symptoms in women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer in China.

METHODS

A cross‑sectional survey was conducted among patients with breast cancer in three tertiary hospitals in central China between August 2020 to December 2021. The outcomes of this study included sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS)-57 and PROMIS-cognitive function short form scores.

RESULTS

A total of 761 patients were included, with a mean age of 48.5 (SD = 11.8). Similar scores were observed across age groups for all symptoms except for fatigue and sleep disturbance domains. The most central symptoms varied among each group, and were fatigue, depression, and pain interference for the young-aged, middle-aged, and elderly-aged groups, respectively. In the young-aged group, patients without health insurance (OR = 0.30, P = 0.048) and in the fourth round of chemotherapy or above (OR = 0.33, P = 0.005) were more likely to belong to low symptom classes. In the middle-aged group, patients in menopause (OR = 3.58, P = 0.001) were more likely to belong to high symptom classes. In the elderly-aged group, patients with complications (OR = 7.40, P = 0.003) tended to belong to the high anxiety, depression, and pain interference classes.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings from this study indicated that there is age-specific heterogeneity of symptoms present for Chinese women being treated for breast cancer with chemotherapy. Tailored intervention should consider the impact of age to reduce patients' symptom burdens.

Study on short-term cosmetic effects and quality of life after breast cancer modified radical mastectomy combined with one-stage prosthesis implantation

Background

This study investigated the reconstruction effect of skin-preserving breast cancer modified radical mastectomy combined with one-stage breast prosthesis implantation in female patients to analyze relevant factors and observe the effect of prosthesis reconstruction on short-term breast satisfaction, psycho-social functions, and quality of life (QOL) in patients with breast cancer after the operation.

Methods

Patients were divided into two groups based on the reconstruction effect (an excellent effect group and a good and general effect group). Patients' short-term cosmetic effect on the breast after breast cancer modified radical mastectomy combined with one-stage breast prosthesis implantation was prospectively followed up to analyze influencing factors. At post-operative 6 months, the breast satisfaction dimension, psycho-social dimension, upper limb breast health dimension, and surgical satisfaction dimension in the prosthesis reconstruction module in the BREAST-Q scale were used for follow-up evaluation.

Results

The excellent rate of prosthesis reconstruction was 91.3%. A significant correlation was observed among the reconstruction effect, implant volume, and number of children born by the patient (P < 0.05). The correlation with age, BMI (body mass index), operation time, nipple and areola retention, operation method, and incision was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). At post-operative 6 months, the Breast-Q score was significantly different in the overall breast satisfaction dimension and outcome satisfaction dimension between the two groups (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

Breast cancer modified radical mastectomy combined with one-stage breast prosthesis implantation can not only fulfill patients' physical aesthetic needs but also positively affect their psychosocial behavior to improve post-operative QOL.