Breast Cancer in the elderly

Breast Cancer and Seniors

When detected early, breast cancer is treated successfully 98% of the time. Researchers continue to make impressive gains in the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of breast cancer. For example, according to the Mayo Clinic, the radical mastectomy, once a standard procedure for women with breast cancer, is now rarely performed.

However, breast cancer in seniors remains a very potent disease that will only be eradicated if women follow the recommended schedule and undergo annual mammograms. Recent statistics suggest that women are skipping annual mammograms, the key procedure to screening.

The National Cancer Institute estimates that 226,870 women will be diagnosed with and 39,510 women will die of cancer of the breast in 2012. The number of new cases has increased every year for the past thirty years, though death from breast cancer has decreased slightly. Breast cancer remains the second leading cause of cancerous death after lung cancer. It is also the second most common cancer among women after non-melanoma skin cancer.

Like all cancers, breast cancer begins with abnormal cell growth. These "bad" cells develop too quickly and spread, or metastasize, throughout the breast, often entering lymph nodes located under the arm or even moving into other parts of the body.

There are several signs of potential breast cancer, including a bloody discharge from or retraction of the nipple; a change in the size or contour of the breast; and a flattening, redness, or pitting of skin over the breast. A lump in the breast remains the most common sign.

If a woman detects a lump, she should see her doctor; however, the Mayo Clinic recommends waiting through one menstrual cycle, as breast shape changes throughout the cycle.

Introduction
Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women in the United States, with more than 180,000 reported cases yearly. Despite recent advances, more than 41,000 women per year die of breast cancer in the United States alone. Other than female gender, age is the most important risk factor for the development of breast cancer. In the United States, women aged 65 years or older represent about 13% of the female population but account for nearly 50% of the newly diagnosed breast cancers. More than 60% of breast cancer deaths occur among women over age 65.

Despite the high prevalence of breast cancer among older women and the significant associated morbidity and mortality, researchers have only recently focused on treatment questions in this patient group. Most clinical trials and almost all randomized trials have included few women over age 65. Extrapolation of results of many clinical trials to the geriatric population must be done with caution because of potential differences in tumor biology, host physiology, and problems common among older patients, including comorbidity, impaired functional status, and lack of social support.