Table 1 Patients’ characteristics by time to diagnosis of breast cancer recurrence

Mean age, years (SD)

48.45 (10.59)

49.17 (10.61)

300

0.562

Menopausal status

Pre/peri-menopause

138 (76.6)

83 (69.1)

221

0.628

Postmenopause

42 (23.4)

37 (30.9)

79

T stage

≤2 cm

40 (22.2)

51 (42.5)

91

<0.001

>2 cm

140 (77.8)

69 (57.5)

209

N stage

Node-negative

53 (29.4)

69 (56.6)

122

<0.001

Node + 1-3 nodes

56 (31.1)

36 (30)

92

Node + 4-9 nodes

39 (21.7)

12 (10)

51

Node+ ≥ 10 nodes

32 (17.8)

3 (2.5)

35

N stage

Node-negative

53 (29.4)

69 (56.6)

121

<0.001

Node-positive

127 (70.6)

51 (43.4)

179

Grade (n = 262)

1

13 (7.6)

19 (20.6)

32

0.002

2

103 (60.5)

56 (60.8)

159

3

54 (31.9)

17 (18.6)

71

LVI (n = 262)

Yes

108 (63.9)

43 (46.2)

151

0.006

No

61 (36.1)

50 (53.8)

111

ER

Positive

101 (56.1)

104 (86.6)

205

0.001

Negative

79 (43.9)

16 (13.4)

95

PR

Positive

76 (42.2)

95 (79.1)

171

0.001

Negative

104 (57.8)

25 (20.9)

129

HER2

Positive

60 (33.3)

5 (4.1)

65

0.001

Negative

120 (66.7)

115 (95.9)

235

Subtypes

Luminal A/B/HER2⁻

76 (42.2)

102 (85.0)

178

0.001

Triple-negative

44 (24.4)

13 (10.8)

57

HER2

35 (19.4)

2 (1.6)

37

ER⁺ or PR⁺ and HER2⁺

25 (14.0)

3 (2.6)

28

Surgery (n = 293)

Mastectomy

163 (90.5)

106 (88.3)

269

0.31

Breast-conserving

12 (6.7)

12 (10)

24

Adjuvant systemic treatment

None

8 (4.4)

4 (3.3)

12

0.001

Chemotherapy

81 (45.0)

20 (16.6)

101

Endocrine therapy

17 (9.4)

35 (29.1)

52

Chemo-endocrine

74 (41.2)

61 (51.0)

135

Adjuvant RT

Yes

108 (60.0)

47 (39.1)

155

0.073