Patients under 21 with breast or colorectal cancer more likely to have aggressive disease

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

According to two studies presented at the 2014 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons in San Francisco, California, when breast and colorectal cancers occur in children, the diseases are aggressive.

Researchers at Seattle Children's Hospital in Seattle, Washington sought to investigate how breast cancer progresses when diagnosed in patients under age 21. Researchers identified 574 patients aged 21 or younger with breast cancer from the National Cancer Data Base of the American College of Surgeons and American Cancer Society. Results showed that younger patients were more likely to be African American, male, and uninsured.

Furthermore, these patients had worse outcomes that adult patients. Researchers also found a large delay between surgical treatment and radiation therapy. The delay is something the researchers hope to investigate further.

The other study was conducted by researchers at the Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine who wanted to assess the outcomes of younger patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer. They identified 920 patients age 21 or younger. They found that younger patients were more likely diagnosed with advanced disease and found to have more aggressive tumors. Pediatric patients also had lower 5-year survival rates compared young adults.