[Breast carcinoma in elderly patients; clinical aspects and treatment]

The incidence of breast cancer increases with age. Results of initial staging of the disease are similar in groups of younger and older women. The relative survival rates of younger and older patients with primary or advanced breast cancer are about equal, although the number of patients suitable for initial standard surgery and for chemotherapy declines with increasing age. In this context it has to be considered that the incidence of hormone dependent tumors increases with age. Therefore aged women with primary or advanced breast cancer are more often likely to respond to (alternative primary) endocrine therapy than younger ones. Trials exploring the possibilities of limited primary surgery and/or primary or adjuvant endocrine therapy in elderly patients are in progress. Until the present, it is recommended to treat elderly patients with breast cancer according to the general rules for this disease with the proviso that the general condition of the patient allows for this. Finally, older patients in whom early breast cancer is easily detectable by mammography, might optimally benefit from breast cancer screening programs.