Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

The Association between Age, Comorbidities and Use of Radiotherapy in Women with Breast Cancer: Implications for Survival

Jimmy T. Efird
* ORCID logo ,
Sharyn Hunter
,
Sally Chan
,
Sarah Jeong
,
Susan L. Thomas
,
Charulata Jindal
,
Tithi Biswas
Version 1 : Received: 29 May 2018 / Approved: 29 May 2018 / Online: 29 May 2018 (13:01:28 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Efird, J.T.; Hunter, S.; Chan, S.; Jeong, S.; Thomas, S.L.; Jindal, C.; Biswas, T. The Association between Age, Comorbidities and Use of Radiotherapy in Women with Breast Cancer: Implications for Survival. Medicines 2018, 5, 62. Efird, J.T.; Hunter, S.; Chan, S.; Jeong, S.; Thomas, S.L.; Jindal, C.; Biswas, T. The Association between Age, Comorbidities and Use of Radiotherapy in Women with Breast Cancer: Implications for Survival. Medicines 2018, 5, 62.

Abstract

Background: Radiotherapy plays an important role in the management and survival of patients with breast cancer. The aim of this study was to examine the association between age, comorbidities and use of radiotherapy in this population. Methods: Patients diagnosed with breast cancer from 2004–2013 were identified from the American College of Surgeons National Cancer Database (NCDB). Follow-up time was measured from the date of diagnosis (baseline) to the date of death or censoring. Adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) were used as the measure of association. Results: Independently of comorbidities and other important outcome-related factors, patients >65 years of age who received radiotherapy survived significantly longer than those who did not receive radiotherapy (aHR = 0.53, 95%CI = 0.52–0.54). However, as women aged, those with comorbidities were less likely to receive RT (adjusted P-trend by age <0.0001). Conclusions: The development of decision-making tools to assist clinicians, and older women with breast cancer and comorbidities, are needed to facilitate personalized treatment plans regarding RT. This is particularly relevant as the population ages and the number of women with breast cancer is expected to increase in the near future.

Keywords

breast cancer; comorbidities; older women; radiotherapy; survival

Subject

Medicine and Pharmacology, Oncology and Oncogenics

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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