Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 22, 2026
Single-Port Robotic-assisted Transaxillary Breast-conserving Surgery: A Prospective, Single-arm, Non-randomized Phase IIa Clinical Trial
Published on: August 19, 2025
Breast-conserving therapy for stage I-II breast cancer in elderly women
Bruno Cutuli1, Cynthia Aristei, Caroline Martin
1Department of Radiation Oncology, Polyclinique de Courlancy, 38 rue de Courlancy, Reims 51100, France. b.cutuli@wanadoo.fr
Purpose:
To assess breast-conserving therapy results in elderly patients with early-stage breast cancer (clinical Stage I-II).
Methods And Materials:
Between 1979 and 1998, 196 women (200 treated breasts) aged > or =70 years (median age, 72.5 years) were treated with breast-conserving therapy (lumpectomy or quadrantectomy with axillary lymph node dissection and radiotherapy). Pathologic axillary node involvement was found in 51 patients (28%). Two-thirds of patients received tamoxifen, and 16% received chemotherapy.
Results:
At a median follow-up of 59 months, 3 patients (1.5%) had developed local recurrence and 20 (10.2%) distant metastases. The overall survival rate was 81% and 62% at 5 and 10 years, respectively. The corresponding disease-specific survival rates were 92% and 88%. Axillary nodal involvement was the only statistically significant risk factor for the development of metastases (p = 0.0035). Arm mobility impairment and arm lymphedema each occurred in 5 patients. In another 5 patients, a thromboembolic event occurred during tamoxifen treatment.
Conclusion:
Elderly women tolerate breast-conserving therapy, including radiotherapy, well and have excellent rates of locoregional control and disease-specific survival.
