Where youth matters—clinicopathologic characteristics and emerging trends in treatment and outcomes in young Irish women with breast cancer

Young women with breast cancer (YWBC) represent 7–12% of breast cancer diagnoses and ostensibly have more biologically aggressive subtypes with higher relapse and mortality rates. We studied the clinical and pathological characteristics in YWBC and examined how outcomes and treatment have evolved. YWBC were identified from pathology databases at two tertiary centers. Patients were divided into two cohorts: those diagnosed from 2000 to 2005 (C1) and from 2006 to 2015 (C2). Data were retrieved from clinical, radiology, and histology databases. Statistical analysis was performed using R® (V3.2.0). We identified 345 patients. Median age was 36 years (23–39 years). Mastectomy was performed in 232 patients (67.2%) and axillary lymph node clearance (ALNC) in 207 patients (60% [C1 82.7 vs. C2: 49.4%, p