Chemotherapy in patients with hormone receptor positive, node positive invasive breast cancer

This study wanted to find out how well chemotherapy for invasive breast cancer works, especially in those over 70 years old. The study found that most patients benefit from chemotherapy, however, those aged over 70 benefited less of this treatment than those aged under 70.

Most types of breast cancer have guidelines with suggested treatment. In some cancers, it can spread into the lymph nodes. For patients with hormone receptor-positive cancer that has spread, chemotherapy is recommended. It is not known if this treatment is especially effective in patients over 70 years of age.

This study had 1772 patients. All the patients had hormone receptor-positive breast cancer which had spread into the lymph nodes and was classified as invasive. Of these, 1544 patients were treated with chemotherapy. The remaining 288 patients were not treated with chemotherapy.  The patients were followed for an average of 6.6 years after treatment.

After five years, 91.3% of the patients treated with chemotherapy were alive. After five years, 76.8% of the patients not treated with chemotherapy were alive. After five years, 86.7% of the patients treated with chemotherapy survived without the cancer spreading further.  After five years, 74.4% of the patients not treated with chemotherapy survived without the cancer spreading further. In patients over 70, chemotherapy did not significantly improve survival.

The study concluded that chemotherapy improves survival in patients with hormone receptor-positive, node-positive invasive breast cancer. This improvement did not occur in patients over 70 years of age.

This was a large study. Studying patients over 70 is difficult as they often have other health factors that impact survival.