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Table 1 Patient and tumor characteristics

From: Use of sentinel lymph node biopsy in elderly patients with breast cancer – 10-year experience from a Swiss university hospital

 

Total

(n = 586)

 < 70 years

(n = 419)

 ≥ 70 years

(n = 163)

p-value

% missing data

Age (median [IQR])

61.0 [51.0,71.0]

55.0 [48.0, 62.0]

76.0 [73.0, 80.5]

 < 0.001

0.7%

Ethnicity

0.296

6.5%

 Caucasian

537 (98.0%)

384 (97.5%)

149 (99.3%)

  

 Other

11 (2.0%)

10 (2.5%)

1 (0.7%)

  

Clinical tumor stage

0.015

0.0%

 DCIS

90 (15.4%)

76 (18.1%)

14 (8.6%)

  

 T1

307 (53.4%)

215 (51.3%)

90 (55.2%)

  

 T2

177 (30.2%)

121 (28.9%)

54 (33.1%)

  

 T3

8 (1.4%)

6 (1.4%)

2 (1.2%)

  

 T4

4 (0.7%)

1 (0.2%)

3 (1.8%)

  

Histological type

0.019

1.2%

 DCIS

98 (16.9%)

80 (19.3%)

18 (11.2%)

  

 Invasive ductal

369 (63.7%)

265 (63.9%)

100 (62.5%)

  

 Invasive lobular

55 (9.5%)

33 (8.0%)

22 (13.8%)

  

 Other

57 (9.8%)

37 (8.9%)

20 (12.5%)

  

Receptor status

0.163

3.6%

 HR + , Her2 -

486 (82.8%)

329 (80.8%)

136 (88.3%)

  

 HR + , Her2 + 

42 (7.4%)

35 (8.6%)

6 (3.9%)

  

 HR -, Her2 + 

16 (2.8%)

12 (2.9%)

4 (2.6%)

  

 Triple negative

39 (6.9%)

31 (7.6%)

8 (5.3%)

  

Tumor grade

0.005

6.8%

 Grade 1

142 (26.0%)

109 (27.5%)

32 (21.9%)

  

 Grade 2

269 (49.3%)

178 (44.9%)

88 (60.3%)

  

 Grade 3

135 (24.7%)

109 (27.5%)

26 (17.8%)

  

Lymphovascular invasion

0.013

10.4%

 L0

432 (82.3%)

321 (85.1%)

111 (75.5%)

  

 L1

93 (17.7%)

56 (14.9%)

36 (24.5%)

  

Type of axillary surgery

0.307

4.6%

 Sentinel lymph node biopsy

442 (79.1%)

317 (79.6%)

122 (77.7%)

  

 No axillary surgery

71 (12.7%)

47 (11.8%)

23 (14.6%)

  

 Tailored axillary surgerya

17 (3.0%)

15 (3.8%)

2 (1.3%)

  

 Axillary lymph node dissection

29 (5.2%)

19 (4.8%)

10 (6.4%)

  

Type of breast surgery

 

4.9%

 Breast conserving surgery

386 (69.3%)

272 (68.7%)

111 (70.7%)

0.718

 

 Mastectomy

171 (30.7%)

124 (31.3%)

46 (29.3%)

0.732

 

Pathological nodal status

0.578

9.6%

 pNx

45 (8.5%)

28 (7.5%)

16 (10.3%)

  

 pN0

396 (74.7%)

281 (75.7%)

112 (72.3%)

  

 pN1

77 (14.5%)

54 (14.6%)

23 (14.8%)

  

 pN2

6 (1.1%)

5 (1.3%)

1 (0.6%)

  

 pN3

6 (1.1%)

3 (0.8%)

3 (1.9%)

  
  1. Percentages add up to 100% in each age group. Note that the overall totals may differ from the sum of n for both age groups, due to missing age information for some patients. For categorical variables, p-values are based on χ2 tests, where the null-hypothesis states that the distribution across the levels of the relevant factor is equal across age groups. For continuous variables, p-values are based on Wilcoxon rank-sum test, where the null hypothesis states that the distribution of that variable is equal across age groups
  2. IQR interquartile range, DCIS ductal carcinoma in situ, HR hormone receptor, Her2 human epidermal growth factor receptor 2
  3. aTailored axillary surgery consists of the removal of sentinel lymph nodes, palpably suspicious findings, as well as the optional selective removal of lymph nodes localized under image-guidance [17]
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World Journal of Surgical Oncology

ISSN: 1477-7819

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