Clinicopathological Characteristics of Breast Carcinoma in Premenopausal Women

Background: Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality world-wide. The objective of this study was to see the pattern and characteristics of carcinoma breast in premenopausal women reporting at a tertiary care hospital.Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at surgical unit of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Islamabad from May 2012 to April 2015. A total of 144 female patients were admitted during this period as diagnosed cases of carcinoma breast. Of these patients, all cases of breast carcinoma diagnosed in premenopausal women were selected and assessed for tumor type, TNM classification and involved breast quadrants.Results: Out of 144 patients 70 (48.6%) cases of carcinoma breast were reported in premenopausal women. The ages ranged from 14 to 48 years with a mean age of 33 ± 7.95 years. According to TNM classification, 2.9% patients were in T1, 25.7% were in T2, 32.9% were in T3 and 38.6% were in T4. Similarly, 37.1% patients presented with a nodal status of N0, 38.1% with N1, 21.4% with N2 and 2.9% with N3. Out of 70 patients, 11 (15.7%) presented with distant metastasis (M1) at the time of diagnosis. The upper outer quadrant of breast (32.9%) was most commonly involved site, followed by upper inner, lower outer and lower inner quadrants, respectively. Most common tumor type was invasive ductal carcinoma (85.7%), followed by invasive lobular carcinoma (7.1%), papillary carcinoma (4.3%), medullary carcinoma (1.4%) and malignant phylloides (1.4%). Regarding exposure to risk factors of breast cancer in these patients, 35.7% women did not breast feed and 27.1% were nulliparous. There was no history of use of oral contraceptive pills in 82.8% and positive family history was reported in 27.1% patients.Conclusions: Late presentation with advanced disease in premenopausal women is more common in our part of the world as compared to international literature. More studies on larger sample sizes should be carried out to validate these findings.