Correlation between hormone receptor status and age, and its prognostic implications in breast cancer patients in Bahrain

OBJECTIVES: To assess the correlation between hormone receptor status (HRS) and age, and its significance as a predictor of outcome in patients with breast cancer (BC). METHODS: This retrospective review was conducted on 109 patients diagnosed with BC at Salmaniya Medical Complex, Manama, Bahrain from 2010-2013. Patients were divided into 2 age groups; under and over 40 years, and were analyzed for tumor histology, lymph node status, stage, and HRS. RESULTS: Younger patients with BC were more likely to be of higher stage, grade, and of larger size. Older women were more likely to be estrogen receptor (ER) positive (72.6% versus 55.3%), and progesterone receptor (PR) positive (71% versus 53.2%) (p=0.03). The human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER)-2 over-expression was seen more in younger women (51% versus 40%) (p=0.2). Younger patients had higher lymph node metastases (88.6% versus 56.1%) (p=0.0004), and higher distant metastases (26.7% versus 6.8%) (p=0.005). The HER-2 over-expression strongly correlated with lymph node status. A total of 63.4% of lymph node positive patients had HER-2 over-expression compared with only 13.3% of lymph node negative patients (p<0.00001). CONCLUSION: Breast cancer is more aggressive and advanced in younger women, a fact that can be significantly attributed to under expression of ER and PR, and over expression of HER-2, which also correlates well with lymph node status, as a measure of aggressiveness. Further studies should evaluate the genetic profile of BC in such population to improve their outcomes.