TUMOUR SIZE AND PATIENT AGE: WHAT THE DATA REVEALS gabrielle.matthews2@health.qld.gov.au

 

TUMOUR SIZE AND PATIENT AGE: WHAT THE DATA REVEALS

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Australia

Oral or Poster

Breast cancer screening programs predominantly target women aged 50–74, excluding many younger women. This study compared the primary method of detection and lesion size at diagnosis between younger patients (≤40 years) and older patients (≥41 years) with breast cancer to identify gaps in current screening strategies.

A retrospective cohort study was conducted at a single quaternary centre from 2013–2023. 2650 patients were identified as being diagnosed with breast cancer during this period. Of these, 214 patients were identified to be 40 years or younger when diagnosed with breast cancer. Given the large cohort of older breast cancer patients, a similar sized older cohort was selected at random for comparison to the younger cohort. Following data collection, patients who were missing a large volume of data or had disease recurrence without a clear index tumour were excluded.

In the younger group, 89.5% of tumours were self-detected, 1.7% incidentally found, and 8.8% detected via screening/surveillance. In contrast, older patients had 57.8% of tumours self-detected, 6.9% incidentally found, and 35.3% detected through screening. Among self-detected tumours, 74.5% in younger and 55.9% in older patients were <30mm.

Younger patients with breast cancer are significantly more likely to detect their tumours through self-examination due to their exclusion from current screening eligibility. Despite a high proportion of smaller tumours at diagnosis, early detection depends heavily on self-awareness. Educational campaigns targeting younger patients to promote self-examination and clinical breast awareness may bridge the gap in early detection.