Table 2 Management of patients with metastatic breast cancer, according to age group
| Â | age at time of diagnosis of primary tumor | Â | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|  | 20–49 (n = 34) | 50–69 (n = 62) | 70+ (n = 20) | p-value |
Diagnostic procedures | ||||
   Laboratory tests: |  |  |  |  |
No. of patients | 34 (100%) | 61 (98%) | 18 (90%) | 0.06 |
No. of tests per patient* | 45 (26–68) | 35 (20–58) | 13 (8–33) | 0.005 |
   Imaging: |  |  |  |  |
No. of patients | 33 (97%) | 62 (100%) | 19 (95%) | 0.09 |
No. of exams per patient* | 17 (13–32) | 16.5 (9–26) | 7 (4–19) | 0.009 |
   Histological or cytological confirmation: |  |  |  |  |
No. of patients | 20 (58%) | 37 (59%) | 10 (50%) | 0.69 |
Hospital admission | ||||
   No. of patients | 31 (91%) | 56 (90%) | 15 (75%) | 0.15 |
   No. of admissions (median) * | 4 (2–5) | 3 (2–4) | 2 (1–4) | 0.06 |
   Mean duration per admission (days) * | 8.5 (5–10) | 12 (6.5–17) | 12 (4.6–16) | 0.02 |
   Reason for hospital admission: |  |  |  |  |
Treatment (surgery, radiotherapy, systemic) | 22 (65%) | 35 (56%) | 3 (15%) | 0.001 |
Treatment-related complications | 10 (29%) | 9 (15%) | 1 (5%) | 0.05 |
Disease progression | 30 (88%) | 49 (79%) | 14 (70%) | 0.25 |
Disease progression and treatment-related complications | 8 (24%) | 15 (24%) | 3 (15%) | 0.68 |
Not related to breast cancer | 0 (0%) | 11 (18%) | 3 (15%) | 0.03 |
Visits to medical oncologist | ||||
   No. of patients (%) | 34 (100%) | 61 (98%) | 17 (85%) | 0.007 |
   No of visits per patient* | 25 (14–42) | 19 (8–32) | 9 (7–18) | 0.02 |
Treatment | ||||
   Chemotherapy: |  |  |  |  |
No. of patients | 27 (79%) | 35 (56%) | 5 (25%) | 0.005 |
   Hormonal treatment: |  |  |  |  |
No. of patients | 28 (82%) | 54 (87%) | 16 (80%) | 0.68 |
   Radiotherapy: |  |  |  |  |
No. of patients | 27 (79%) | 43 (69%) | 9 (45%) | 0.03 |