Mortality rate for breast cancer is higher among older women
While a prescription to buy Canadian Tamoxifen can help women fight certain forms of breast cancer, research from the Netherlands suggests that older individuals may not necessarily be receiving this medication or other treatments as they should.
While a prescription to buy Canadian Tamoxifen can help women fight certain forms of breast cancer, research from the Netherlands suggests that older individuals may not necessarily be receiving this medication or other treatments as they should.
In order to investigate the differences in mortality among breast cancer patients from different age groups, the scientists reviewed the medical data of more than 9,700 women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer.
Results showed that after five years, the cumulative incidence of death from this disease was 5.7 percent among subjects younger than 65 years. For those aged 65 to 74, it was 6.3 percent. Among women 75 and older, the incidence was 8.3 percent.
The researchers speculate that one reason for this trend is that older patients may be under-treated for this disease, including therapy that involves either chemotherapy or radiation.
"These data underline the need for age-specific breast cancer studies in order to improve breast cancer outcome in patients of all ages," the researchers wrote in their paper, which is published in JAMA.
Increasing age was also associated with a greater risk of breast cancer relapse, as well as higher mortality rates from all other causes.
In 2008, approximately 41 percent of female breast cancer patients were 65 years of age or older at diagnosis, the researchers said.
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