Purpose: To evaluate the histopathologic features and radiologic findings of breast cancers in the elderly women over 60 years old.
Materials and Methods: One hundred nineteen patients (average 52.1y) with breast cancers were included. The histopathologic features and radiologic findings between the women under 60 years and the elderly women over 60 years old were analyzed. The histopathologic features included cell types, nuclear and histologic grades, estrogen and progesterone receptors, and the other tumor markers, such as P53, Ki67, and HER2. The radiologic findings were shape, margin, and density on mammogram and shape, margin, boundary, echogenicity, posterior echo features, and orientation on sonogram.
Results: Several mammographic features were different between the two groups; shape (p=0.002), margin (p<0.001), density (p<0.001), and pattern (p<0.001). The breast cancers in elderly women tend to show lobular shape, obscured or circumscribed margin, and high density on mammogram. The major parenchymal densities of the women over 60 years were heterogeneously dense or scattered fibroglandular pattern. Different sonographic findings between two groups were posterior echo features (p=0.046) and orientation (p=0.059). There was no significant difference in the histopathologic features between two groups.
Conclusion: The difference of underlying breast parenchyma between two groups may affect the detection and morphologic features of the lesions. The breast cancers in the elderly women over 60 years may mimic benign masses with oval or lobular shape and circumscribed margin, therefore the careful evaluation is needed for the diagnosis of elderly women.