A study out of MD Anderson, published in the Nov. 7 issue of the
Journal of Clinical Oncology, finds that patients 65 and older
are not seeing the same decline in death rates from breast
cancer as younger patients. The study found significant shifts
in breast cancer mortality over time. In 1980-84, women aged 75
and older had the lowest 10-year risk of breast cancer death (24
percent) while the risk ranged from 29 percent to 31 percent for
those younger than 75. However, by 1995-97, the 10-year risk of
breast cancer death was 17.3 percent for women 75 and older and
15.4 percent to 16.6 percent for younger women. “Given the fact
that breast cancer is growing rapidly, we really need to focus
research exclusively on developing optimal treatments for older
women with breast cancer, evaluating how we can predict which
older women can tolerate treatments, and develop new treatments
that work better,” lead author Dr. Benjamin Smith, an assistant
professor in the radiation oncology department, said in an MD
Anderson