Diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer in the elderly

Ca-A Cancer Journal for Clinicians

Volumn 53, Issue 4, 2003, Pages 227-244

  Holmes, Chris E ^a   Muss, Hyman B ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT COLLEGE OF MEDICINE   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ANASTROZOLE; ANTHRACYCLINE; ANTIESTROGEN; AROMATASE INHIBITOR; BISPHOSPHONIC ACID DERIVATIVE; CAPECITABINE; CYCLOPHOSPHAMIDE; DOXORUBICIN; EPIRUBICIN; FLUOROURACIL; FULVESTRANT; GEMCITABINE; GESTAGEN; LETROZOLE; METHOTREXATE; NAVELBINE; PACLITAXEL; PAMIDRONIC ACID; PLACEBO; RALOXIFENE; SELECTIVE ESTROGEN RECEPTOR MODULATOR; SEROTONIN 3 ANTAGONIST; TAMOXIFEN; TOREMIFENE; TRASTUZUMAB; UNINDEXED DRUG; VINBLASTINE; VINCA ALKALOID; VINCRISTINE; ZOLEDRONIC ACID;

ADULT; AGED; AGING; ALOPECIA; BLOOD TOXICITY; BONE MARROW SUPPRESSION; BREAST CANCER; CANCER CHEMOTHERAPY; CANCER DIAGNOSIS; CANCER PREVENTION; CANCER SCREENING; CARDIOTOXICITY; COHORT ANALYSIS; COMORBIDITY; CONTROLLED STUDY; DIARRHEA; ENDOMETRIUM CANCER; FEMALE; FRACTURE; GASTRITIS; HAND FOOT SYNDROME; HORMONE SUBSTITUTION; HUMAN; MAMMOGRAPHY; METASTASIS; MUCOSA INFLAMMATION; NAUSEA AND VOMITING; NEUROPATHY; NEUTROPENIA; POPULATION; PRIORITY JOURNAL; RETROSPECTIVE STUDY; REVIEW; THROMBOEMBOLISM; UNITED STATES; VASCULAR DISEASE; VEIN THROMBOSIS; BREAST TUMOR; DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS; ELDERLY CARE; PATHOLOGY; PREVENTIVE MEDICINE; RISK FACTOR; WOMEN'S HEALTH;

AGED; AGED, 80 AND OVER; AGING; BREAST NEOPLASMS; COMORBIDITY; DIAGNOSIS, DIFFERENTIAL; FEMALE; HEALTH SERVICES FOR THE AGED; HUMANS; NEOPLASM METASTASIS; PREVENTIVE MEDICINE; RISK FACTORS; WOMEN'S HEALTH;

EID: 0041382815     PISSN: 00079235     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.3322/canjclin.53.4.227     Document Type: Review

References (79)

1. Jemal A, Murray T, Samuels A, et al. Cancer statistics, 2003. CA Cancer J Clin 2003;53:5-26.
2. American Cancer Society. Breast Cancer Facts & Figures 2001. Atlanta, GA: American Cancer Society; 2001.
3. Yancik R. Cancer burden in the aged: An epidemiologic and demographic overview. Cancer 1997;80:1273-1283.
4. Ries LAG, Eisner MP, Kosary CL. SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 1973-1999. National Cancer Institute. Bethesda, MD. Available at: http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1973_1999/. Accessed August 25, 2002.
5. Walter LC, Covinsky KE. Cancer screening in elderly patients: A framework for individualized decision making. JAMA 2001;285:2750-2756.
6. Yancik R, Ries LG, Yates JW. Breast cancer in aging women: A population-based study of contrasts in stage, surgery, and survival. Cancer 1989;63:976-981.
7. Swan G, Lin C. Survival patterns among younger women with breast cancer: The effects of age, race, stage, and treatment. J Natl Cancer Inst Monogr 1994;16:69-77.
8. von Rosen A, Gardelin A, Auer G. Assessment of malignancy potential in mammary carcinoma in elderly patients. Am J Clin Oncol 1987; 10:61-64.
9. Diab SG, Elledge RM, Clark GM. Tumor characteristics and clinical outcome of elderly women with breast cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 2000;92:550-556.
10. Yancik R, Wesley MN, Ries LA, et al. Effect of age and comorbidity in postmenopausal breast cancer patients aged 55 years and older. JAMA 2001;285:885-892.
11. Balducci L, Yates J. General guidelines for the management of older patients with cancer. Oncology 2000;14:221-227.
12. Repetto L, Fratino L, Audisio KA, et al. Comprehensive geriatric assessment adds information to Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status in elderly cancer patients: An Italian Group for Geriatric Oncology Study. J Clin Oncol 2002;20:494-502.
13. Extermann M, Overcash J, Lyman GH, et al. Comorbidity and functional status are independent in older cancer patients. J Clin Oncol 1998; 16:1582-1587.
14. Satariano WA, Ragland DR. The effect of comorbidity on 3-year survival of women with primary breast cancer. Ann Intern Med 1994;120: 104-110.
15. Extermann M, Balducci L, Lyman GH. What threshold for adjuvant therapy in older breast cancer patients?J Clin Oncol 2000;18:1709-1717.
16. Smith RA, Saslow D, Sawyer KA, et al. American Cancer Society guidelines for breast cancer screening-Update, 2003. CA Cancer J Clin 2003;53:141-169.
17. Potosky AL, Breen N, Graubard BI, et al. The association between health care coverage and the use of cancer screening tests. Results from the 1992 National Health Interview Survey. Med Care 1998;36:257-270.
18. Faulk KM, Sickles EA, Sollitto RA, et al. Clinical efficacy of mammographic screening in the elderly. Radiology 1995;194:193-197.
19. Kerlikowske K, Grady D, Rubin SM, et al. Efficacy of screening mammography. A meta-analysis. JAMA 1995;273:149-154.
20. US Preventive Services Task Force. Screening for breast cancer: Recommendations and Rationale. Ann Intern Med 2002;137(5 Part 1):344-346.
21. Humphrey LL, Helfand M, Chan BKS, et al. Breast cancer screening: A summary of the evidence for the US Preventive Services Task Force. Ann Intern Med 2002;137:347-360.
22. Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer. Breast cancer and hormone replacement therapy: Collaborative reanalysis of data from 51 epidemiological studies of 52,705 women with breast cancer and 108,411 women without breast cancer. Lancet 1997;350:1047-1059.
23. Gail MH, Costantino JP, Bryant J, et al. Weighing the risks and benefits of tamoxifen treatment for preventing breast cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 1999;91:1829-1846.
24. Claus EB, Risch N, Thompson WD. Autosomal dominant inheritance of early-onset breast cancer: Implications for risk prediction. Cancer 1994;73:643-651.
25. Fisher B, Costantino JP, Wickerham DL, et al. Tamoxifen for Prevention of breast cancer: Report of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project P-1 Study. J Natl Cancer Inst 1998;90:1371-1388.
26. IBIS Investigators. First results from the International Breast Cancer Intervention Study (IBIS-I): A Randomized Prevention Trial. Lancet 2002;360:817-824.
27. Powles T, Eeles R, Ashley S, et al. Interim analysis of the incidence of breast cancer in the Royal Marsden Hospital Tamoxifen Randomised Chemoprevention Trial. Lancet 1998;352:98-101.
28. Veronesi U, Maisonneuve P, Costa A, et al. Prevention of breast cancer with tamoxifen: Preliminary findings from the Italian randomised trial among hysterectomised women-Italian Tamoxifen Prevention Study. Lancet 1998;352:93-97.
29. Chlebowski RT, Collyar DE, Somerfield MR, et al. American Society of Clinical Oncology technology assessment on breast cancer risk reduction strategies: Tamoxifen and raloxifene. J Clin Oncol 1999;17:1939-1955.
30. Cummings SR, Eckert S, Krueger KA, et al. The effect of raloxifene on risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women: Results from the MORE randomized trial. Multiple Outcomes of Raloxifene Evaluation. JAMA 1999;281:2189-2197.
31. Kemeny MM, Busch-Devereaux E, Merriam LT, et al. Cancer surgery in the elderly. Hematol Oncol Clin North Am 2000;14:169-192.
32. Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group. Effects of radiotherapy and surgery in early breast cancer: An overview of the randomized trials. N Engl J Med 1995;333:1444-1455.
33. Fisher B, Anderson S, Bryant J, et al. Twenty-year follow-up of a randomized trial comparing total mastectomy, lumpectomy, and lumpectomy plus irradiation for the treatment of invasive breast cancer. N Engl J Med 2002;347:1233-1241.
34. Lazovich DA, White E, Thomas DB, et al. Underutilization of breast-conserving surgery and radiation therapy among women with stage I or II breast cancer. JAMA 1991;266:3433-3438.
35. Warren JL, Brown ML, Fay MP, et al. Costs of treatment for elderly women with early-stage breast cancer in fee-for-service settings. J Clin Oncol 2002;20:307-316.
36. Wazer DE, Erban JK, Robert NJ, et al. Breast cnservation in elderly women for clinically negative axillary lymph odes without axillary dissection. Cancer 1994;74:878-883.
37. Hughes KS, Schnaper L, Berry D, et al. Comparison of lumpectomy plus tamoxifen with and without radiotherapy (rt) in women 70 years of age or older who have clinical stage I, estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast carcinoma. Proceedings of the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2002;20:24a
38. Anonymous. Tamoxifen for early breast cancer: An overview of the randomised trials. Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group. Lancet 1998;351:1451-1467.
39. Bates T, Riley DL, Houghton J, et al. Breast cancer in elderly women: A Cancer Research Campaign trial comparing treatment with tamoxifen and optimal surgery with tamoxifen alone. The Elderly Breast Cancer Working Party. Br J Surg 1991;78:591-594.
40. Robertson JF, Ellis IO, Elston CW, et al. Mastectomy or tamoxifen as initial therapy for operable breast cancer in elderly patients: five-year follow-up. Eur J Cancer 1992;28A:908-910.
41. Mustacchi G, Milani S, Pluchinotta A, et al. Tamoxifen or surgery plus tamoxifen as primary treatment for elderly patients with operable breast cancer: The G. R.E.T.A.Trial. Group for Research on Endocrine Therapy in the Elderly. Anticancer Res 1994; 14:2197-2200.
42. Goldhirsch A, Glick JH, Gelber RD, et al. Meeting highlights: International Consensus Panel on the Treatment of Primary Breast Cancer. Seventh International Conference on Adjuvant Therapy of Primary Breast Cancer. J Clin Oncol 2001;19:3817-3827.
43. Shapiro CL, Recht A. Side effects of adjuvant treatment of breast cancer. N Engl J Med 2001;344:1997-2008.
44. Nixon A, Manola J, Gelman R, et al. No long-term increase in cardiac-related mortality after breast-conserving surgery and radiation therapy using modern techniques. J Clin Oncol 1998; 16:1374-1379.
45. Shapiro C, Hardenbergh P, Gelman R, et al. Cardiac effects of adjuvant doxorubicin and radiation therapy in breast cancer patients. J Clin Oncol 1998;16:3493-3501.
46. Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group. Favourable and unfavorable effects on long-term survival of radiotherapy for early breast cancer: An overview of the randomised trials. Lancet 2000;355:1757-1770.
47. Fisher B, Bryant J, Dignam J, et al. Tamoxifen, radiation therapy or both for prevention of ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence after lumpectomy in women with invasive breast cancer of one centimeter or less. J Clin Oncol 2002;20: 4141-4149.
48. Eifel P, Axelson JA, Costa J, et al. National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Conference Statement: Adjuvant therapy for breast cancer, November 1-3, 2000. J Natl Cancer Inst 2001;93:979-989.
49. Holli K, Valavaara R, Blanco G, et al. Safety and efficacy results of a randomized trial comparing adjuvant toremifene and tamoxifen in post-menopausal patients with node-positive breast cancer. Finnish Breast Cancer Group. J Clin Oncol 2000;18:3487-3494.
50. Loprinzi CL, Thome SD. Understanding the utility of adjuvant systemic therapy for primary breast cancer. J Clin Oncol 2001;19:972-979.
51. Ravdin PM, Siminoff LA, Davis GJ, et al. Computer program to assist in making decisions about adjuvant therapy for women with early breast cancer. J Clin Oncol 2001;19:980-991.
52. The ATAC Trialists Group.Anastrozole alone or in combination with tamoxifen versus tamoxifen alone for adjuvant treatment of post-menopausal women with early breast cancer: First results of the ATAC randomised trial. Lancet 2002;359:2131-2139.
53. Winer EP, Hudis C, Burstein HJ, et al. American Society of Clinical Oncology technology assessment on the use of aromatase inhibitors as adjuvant therapy for women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer: Status report 2002. J Clin Oncol 2002;20:3317-3327.
54. Anonymous, Polychemotherapy for early breast cancer: An overview of the randomised trials. Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group. Lancet 1998;352:930-942.
55. Fisher B, Redmond C, Legault-Poisson S, et al. Postoperative chemotherapy and tamoxifen compared with tamoxifen alone in the treatment of positive-node breast cancer patients aged 50 years and older with rumors responsive to tamoxifen: Results from the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project B-16. J Clin Oncol 1990;8:1005-1018.
56. Crivellari D, Bonetti M, Castiglione-Gertsch M, et al. Burdens and benefits of adjuvant cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil and tamoxifen for elderly patients with breast cancer: The International Breast Cancer Study Group Trial VII. J Clin Oncol 2000;18:1412-1422.
57. Fargeot P, Roche H, Bonneterr JM, et al. Disease-free survival (DFS) advantage of weekly epirubicin plus tamoxifen vs tamoxifen (Tam) alone as adjuvant treatment of operable, node-positive (N+) elderly breast cancer (BC) patient (pts): five-year follow-up results of French Adjuvant study Group, FASG-08 Trial. Proceedings of Am Soc Clin Oncol 2002;21:37a
58. Goldhirsch A, Glick JH, Gelber RD, et al. Meeting highlights: International Consensus Panel on the Treatment of Primary Breast Cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 1998;90:1601-1608.
59. Dees EC, O'Reilly S, Goodman SN, et al. A prospective pharmacologic evaluation of age-related toxicity of adjuvant chemotherapy in women with breast cancer. Cancer Invest 2000; 18:521-529.
60. Saphner T, Tormey DC, Gray R. Venous and arterial thrombosis in patients who received adjuvant therapy for breast cancer. J Clin Oncol 1991;9:286-294.
61. Fisher B, Brown A, Mamounas E, et al. Effect of preoperative chemotherapy on local-regional disease in women with operable breast cancer: Findings from National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project B-18. J Clin Oncol 1997;15:2483-2493.
62. Ellis MJ, Coop A, Singh B, et al. Letrozole is more effective neoadjuvant endocrine therapy than tamoxifen for ErbB-1- and/or ErbB-2-positive, estrogen receptor- positive primary breast cancer: Evidence from a phase III randomized trial. J Clin Oncol 2001;19:3795-3797.
63. Smith TJ, Davidson NE, Schapira DV, et al. American Society of Clinical Oncology 1998 update of recommended breast cancer surveillance guidelines. J Clin Oncol 1999;17:1080-1082.
64. Olin JJ, Muss HB. New strategies for managing metastatic breast cancer. Oncology 2000; 14:629-641.
65. Mouridsen H, Gershanovich M, Sun Y, et al. Superior efficacy of letrozole versus tamoxifen as first-line therapy for postmenopausal women with advanced breast cancer: Results of a phase III study of the International Letrozole Breast Cancer Group. J Clin Oncol 2001;19:2596-2606.
66. Osborne CK, Pippen J, Jones SE, et al. Double-blind, randomized trial comparing the efficacy and tolerability of fulvestrant versus anastrozole in postmenopausal women with advanced breast cancer progressing on prior endocrine therapy: Results of a North American trial. J Clin Oncol 2002;20:3386-3395.
67. Vogel CL, East DR, Voigt W, et al. Response to tamoxifen in estrogen receptor-poor metastatic breast cancer. Cancer 1987;60:1184-1189.
68. Christman K, Muss HB, Case LD, et al. Chemotherapy of metastatic breast cancer in the elderly. The Piedmont Oncology Association experience. JAMA 1992;268:57-62.
69. Cobleigh MA, Vogel CL, Tripathy D, et al. Multinational study of the efficacy and safety of humanized anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody in women who have HER2-overexpressing metastatic breast cancer that has progressed after chemotherapy for metastatic disease. J Clin Oncol 1999;17:2639-2648.
70. Slamon DL. Use of chemotherapy plus a monoclomal antibody against HER2 for metastatic breast cancer that overexpresses HER 2. N Engl J Med 2001;344:783-792.
71. Burstein HJ, Kuter I, Campos SM, et al. Clinical activity of trastuzumab and vinorelbine in women with HER2-overexpressing metastatic breast cancer. J Clin Oncol 2001;19:2722-2730.
72. Theriault RE, Lipton A, Hortobagyi GN, et al. Pamidronate reduces skeletal morbidity in women with advanced breast cancer and lyric bone lesions: A randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Protocol 18 Aredia Breast Cancer Study Group. J Clin Oncol 1999;17:846-854.
73. Hortobagyi GN, Theriault RL, Porter L, et al. Efficacy of pamidronate in reducing skeletal complications in patients with breast cancer and lyric bone metastases. Protocol 19 Aredia Breast Cancer Study Group. N Engl J Med 1996;335: 1785-1791.
74. Rosen LS, Gordon D, Antonio BS, et al. Zolendronic acid versus pamidronate in the treatment of skeletal metastases in patients with breast cancer or osteolytic lesions of multiple myeloma: A phase III, double-blind, comparative trial. Cancer J 2001;7:377-387.
75. Ozer H, Armitage JO, Bennett CL, et al. 2000 update of recommendations for the use of hematopoietic colony-stimulating factors: Evidence-based, clinical practice guidelines. J Clin Oncol 2000;18:3558-3585.
76. Shank WA Jr, Balducci L. Recombinant hemopoietic growth factors: Comparative hemopoietic response in younger and older subjects. J Am Geriatr Soc 1992;40:151-154.
77. Kemeny M, Muss HB, Kornblith AB, et al. Barriers to participation of older women with breast cancer in clinical trials. Proc Am Soc Clin Oncol 2000;19:602a
78. Hutchins LF, Unger JM, Crowley JJ, et al. Underrepresentation of patients 65 years of age or older in cancer treatment trials. N Engl J Med 1999;341:2061-2067.
79. Trimble EL, Carter CL, Cain D, et al. Representation of older patients in cancer treatment trials. Cancer 1994;74:2208-2214.