[Worse prognosis for young women with breast cancer]

Breast cancer in young women is uncommon, but the second most frequent cause of death in this age group. Young women with breast cancer have a worse prognosis than middle-aged women, with a higher risk of local recurrence, distant disease and breast cancer death. This can partly be explained by diagnosis at a later stage, and a higher proportion of tumors with unfavourable characteristics. However, in women with tumors of the luminal B subtype, low age remained an independent prognostic factor of DDFS and LRFS after correction for stage, tumor characteristics and treatment. Treatment of young women with breast cancer requires special skills to deal with the age group-specific questions concerning heredity, sexuality, fertility, and pregnancy.