Articles
8 January 2025
Vol. 1 No. 1 (2025)
https://doi.org/10.4081/sigaf.2025.14

Invasive breast tumors in elderly women over ninety: a case series from a breast surgery center

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breast cancer, breast surgery, oldest old patients, surgical case studies
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Mauro Turrin
m.turrin@libero.it
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2100-2104
Long-term Care Unit, San Giacomo Apostolo Hospital, ULSS 2, Castelfranco Veneto (TV) (retired), Italy.
Stefania Simioni
Breast Surgery Unit 2, Veneto Institute of Oncology (IOV)-IRCCS Padua, Headquarter of Castelfranco Veneto (TV), Italy.
Eugenia Bertin
Breast Surgery Unit 2, Veneto Institute of Oncology (IOV)-IRCCS Padua, Headquarter of Castelfranco Veneto (TV), Italy.
Debora Tormen
Department of Anatomy and Pathological Histology, Veneto Institute of Oncology (IOV)- IRCCS, Padua, Headquarter of Castelfranco Veneto (TV), Italy.
Simona Frezzini
Unit of Medical Oncology 3, Veneto Institute of Oncology (IOV)- IRCCS, Padua, Headquarter of Castelfranco Veneto (TV), Italy.
Gianfranco Mora
Breast Surgery Unit 2, Veneto Institute of Oncology (IOV)-IRCCS Padua, Headquarter of Castelfranco Veneto (TV), Italy.

Surgical therapy for malignant breast neoplasms in women over the age of 90 is used with caution due to the possibility of immediate postoperative complications from extended hospital stays. These patients frequently exhibit frailty, multiple comorbidities, and a limited life expectancy. A retrospective analysis of patients aged 89 and older treated in 2023 at our certified breast surgery center was carried out. The goal was to examine the clinical characteristics, decision-making process, surgical treatment, outcomes, and open questions surrounding this high-risk subpopulation. Ten patients participated in the study. The characteristics of tumors treated with extended lumpectomy or mastectomy were investigated. The average hospital stay was 1.7 nights, and only one patient developed postoperative delirium. The median survival time is currently 8 months. Only one patient received any adjuvant therapy. A multidisciplinary approach in very elderly patients allows for the assessment of acceptable operative risks as well as the limitation of immediate, short-term, and medium-term complications, reducing reluctance to undergo surgical treatment.

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Invasive breast tumors in elderly women over ninety: a case series from a breast surgery center. (2025). Surgery in Geriatrics and Frailty, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.4081/sigaf.2025.14
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