Breast carcinoma at the extremes of age: a comparison of patients younger than 35 years and older than 75 years.

We assessed the prognosis of patients with breast carcinoma at the extremes of the age distribution of the disease. The groups examined were 166 women 35 years or less and 169 at least 75 years old. Analysis of recurrence and survival showed no significant difference between the groups as a whole or when they were stratified by nodal status. Life expectancy of elderly women with breast carcinoma was significantly reduced when compared with a "normal" age-matched population. Medullary carcinoma was more frequent in young women while a relatively higher proportion of colloid and invasive lobular carcinoma occurred in elderly women. Bilateral carcinoma was found with nearly equal frequency in both age groups. However, elderly women were more likely to have been treated previously for contralateral carcinoma while young women tended to develop asynchronous, subsequent carcinoma.