In this retrospective study, Julliette Buckley, MD, a fellow in breast surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and colleagues reviewed medical records of 628 women aged 40 and younger who were diagnosed with up to stage III breast cancer between 1996 and 2008.

They examined various patient demographic data, such as tumour characteristics, type of surgery, pre- or post-surgery therapy, site and date of recurrence, and length of follow-up (median follow-up was 72 months), and determined rates of local recurrence, distant recurrence and overall survival.

When they analyzed the data according to the type of surgery the women had, they found no statistically significant difference in local cancer recurrence risk.

Thirty out of 421 women who underwent breast conserving therapy and 12 of 161 patients who had a mastectomy developed a local recurrence during the study period. This corresponds to local recurrence rates at 5 and 10 years after breast conservation of 4.6 percent and 13.3 percent, and 8.5 percent and 10.8 percent at 5 and 10 years after mastectomy.

"Although the majority of women in our study underwent breast conserving therapy, previous research has suggested that this procedure leaves women at greater risk for local recurrence.

However, we found no significant difference in the rates of local recurrence between women treated with breast conserving surgery or mastectomy. These results suggest that advances in chemotherapy, imaging and radiation have reduced local and distant recurrence risks and have made breast conserving therapy a safe option for many young women," said Dr. Buckley.

Source: ASCO