The Association between Age, Comorbidities and Use of Radiotherapy in Women with Breast Cancer: Implications for Survival
Background: Radiotherapy (RT) 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 RT in this population. Methods: Patients diagnosed with breast cancer from 2004–20...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
MDPI AG
2018-06-01
|
Series: | Medicines |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2305-6320/5/3/62 |
_version_ | 1818215898949877760 |
---|---|
author | Jimmy T. Efird Sharyn Hunter Sally Chan Sarah Jeong Susan L. Thomas Charulata Jindal Tithi Biswas |
author_facet | Jimmy T. Efird Sharyn Hunter Sally Chan Sarah Jeong Susan L. Thomas Charulata Jindal Tithi Biswas |
author_sort | Jimmy T. Efird |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Background: Radiotherapy (RT) 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 RT 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 RT survived significantly longer than those who did not receive RT (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. |
first_indexed | 2024-12-12T06:43:24Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-8a48346f6b9b4eb68951eaa64086bf82 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2305-6320 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-12-12T06:43:24Z |
publishDate | 2018-06-01 |
publisher | MDPI AG |
record_format | Article |
series | Medicines |
spelling | doaj.art-8a48346f6b9b4eb68951eaa64086bf822022-12-22T00:34:15ZengMDPI AGMedicines2305-63202018-06-01536210.3390/medicines5030062medicines5030062The Association between Age, Comorbidities and Use of Radiotherapy in Women with Breast Cancer: Implications for SurvivalJimmy T. Efird0Sharyn Hunter1Sally Chan2Sarah Jeong3Susan L. Thomas4Charulata Jindal5Tithi Biswas6Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (CCEB), School of Medicine and Public Health, The University of Newcastle (UoN), Newcastle 2308, AustraliaSchool of Nursing and Midwifery, the University of Newcastle (UoN), Callaghan 2308, AustraliaSchool of Nursing and Midwifery, the University of Newcastle (UoN), Callaghan 2308, AustraliaSchool of Nursing and Midwifery, the University of Newcastle (UoN), Callaghan 2308, AustraliaSchool of Nursing and Midwifery, the University of Newcastle (UoN), Callaghan 2308, AustraliaCentre for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (CCEB), School of Medicine and Public Health, The University of Newcastle (UoN), Newcastle 2308, AustraliaDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USABackground: Radiotherapy (RT) 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 RT 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 RT survived significantly longer than those who did not receive RT (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.http://www.mdpi.com/2305-6320/5/3/62breast cancercomorbiditiesolder womenradiotherapysurvival |
spellingShingle | Jimmy T. Efird Sharyn Hunter Sally Chan Sarah Jeong Susan L. Thomas Charulata Jindal Tithi Biswas The Association between Age, Comorbidities and Use of Radiotherapy in Women with Breast Cancer: Implications for Survival Medicines breast cancer comorbidities older women radiotherapy survival |
title | The Association between Age, Comorbidities and Use of Radiotherapy in Women with Breast Cancer: Implications for Survival |
title_full | The Association between Age, Comorbidities and Use of Radiotherapy in Women with Breast Cancer: Implications for Survival |
title_fullStr | The Association between Age, Comorbidities and Use of Radiotherapy in Women with Breast Cancer: Implications for Survival |
title_full_unstemmed | The Association between Age, Comorbidities and Use of Radiotherapy in Women with Breast Cancer: Implications for Survival |
title_short | The Association between Age, Comorbidities and Use of Radiotherapy in Women with Breast Cancer: Implications for Survival |
title_sort | association between age comorbidities and use of radiotherapy in women with breast cancer implications for survival |
topic | breast cancer comorbidities older women radiotherapy survival |
url | http://www.mdpi.com/2305-6320/5/3/62 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT jimmytefird theassociationbetweenagecomorbiditiesanduseofradiotherapyinwomenwithbreastcancerimplicationsforsurvival AT sharynhunter theassociationbetweenagecomorbiditiesanduseofradiotherapyinwomenwithbreastcancerimplicationsforsurvival AT sallychan theassociationbetweenagecomorbiditiesanduseofradiotherapyinwomenwithbreastcancerimplicationsforsurvival AT sarahjeong theassociationbetweenagecomorbiditiesanduseofradiotherapyinwomenwithbreastcancerimplicationsforsurvival AT susanlthomas theassociationbetweenagecomorbiditiesanduseofradiotherapyinwomenwithbreastcancerimplicationsforsurvival AT charulatajindal theassociationbetweenagecomorbiditiesanduseofradiotherapyinwomenwithbreastcancerimplicationsforsurvival AT tithibiswas theassociationbetweenagecomorbiditiesanduseofradiotherapyinwomenwithbreastcancerimplicationsforsurvival AT jimmytefird associationbetweenagecomorbiditiesanduseofradiotherapyinwomenwithbreastcancerimplicationsforsurvival AT sharynhunter associationbetweenagecomorbiditiesanduseofradiotherapyinwomenwithbreastcancerimplicationsforsurvival AT sallychan associationbetweenagecomorbiditiesanduseofradiotherapyinwomenwithbreastcancerimplicationsforsurvival AT sarahjeong associationbetweenagecomorbiditiesanduseofradiotherapyinwomenwithbreastcancerimplicationsforsurvival AT susanlthomas associationbetweenagecomorbiditiesanduseofradiotherapyinwomenwithbreastcancerimplicationsforsurvival AT charulatajindal associationbetweenagecomorbiditiesanduseofradiotherapyinwomenwithbreastcancerimplicationsforsurvival AT tithibiswas associationbetweenagecomorbiditiesanduseofradiotherapyinwomenwithbreastcancerimplicationsforsurvival |