[Clinicopathological and biological features of breast cancer in young females and their relationship with prognosis].

OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship between clinicopathological and biological characteristics and prognosis in young females with breast cancer.

METHODS: The clinicopathological data of 99 young patients (< or =35years) with primary breast cancer were analyzed retrospectively. All the 99 patients were followed up for 5 years. The histological specimens were reviewed. The expression of ER, PR, AR, c-erbB2, ki67, p53 and BRCA1 were assessed by immunohistochemistry in 63 carcinomas.

RESULTS: The lymph node involvement, 5-year metastasis and 5-year survival rate were 59.6% (59/99), 28.0% (26/ 93) and 72.7% (72/99), respectively. The univariate analysis showed that the survival was related to lymphatic vessel invasion, fat involvement, node-positive status, EIC, AR and c-erbB2 expression. The COX multivariate analysis identified that only node-positive status, AR negativity and c-erbB2 overexpression were independent prognostic factors.

CONCLUSION: Our data demonstrated that the lymph node status and c-erbB2 expression are strong prognostic factors in young patients with breast cancer. AR may be an adjuvant prognostic factor. The therapeutic measurement could not benefit the outcome radically.