15-Year Survival Outcome of Primary Breast Conservation Therapy in Young Women with Breast Cancer

Breast cancer in young women (BCY) is associated with unfavourable tumour biology, worse pathological features, and poorer prognosis. There is limited data on the long-term survival outcomes in BCY patients who undergo breast conservation surgery (BCS). This study aims to determine the long-term survival outcome of BCY treated with BCS at our centre. Data was collected of BCY patients who underwent primary BCS at our centre from the 1st of January 2005 to the 31st of December 2008. Oncological event was defined as local, regional, or systemic recurrence, contralateral breast cancer and death. The primary and secondary objectives were to analyse the 15-year overall survival and the 15-year disease-free survival and local recurrence-free survival of BCY who underwent primary BCS respectively. The study enrolled 132 women with a median age of 35 years. No oncological event occurred in 71.2% of patients. Distant metastasis occurred in 14.4%, and one patient developed local recurrence and distant metastasis. Isolated local recurrence occurred in 10.6% of the patients. The contralateral primary was detected in 3.8% of the patients. The 5-, 10-, and 15-year overall survival were 79.5%, 71%, and 70.2%, respectively. The 5-, 10-, and 15-year disease-free survival were 78%, 66.7%, and 65.9%, respectively. The 5-, 10-, and 15-year local recurrence-free survival were 94.9%, 91.1%, and 85.7%, respectively. BCS in young women with breast cancer is oncologically safe with good long-term overall survival and disease-free survival outcomes and can be offered to young breast cancer patients suitable for BCS.