Management of breast cancer in elderly patients

Even if there is not a general consensus, we consider elderly patients of 65 years old or more. The degree of aging is extremely variable so that we can individuate different groups of patients that are different one from the other in relation with Performance Status, the presence of other pathology, and of eventual social discomfort. Breast Cancer is the most common Tumor in elderly woman and it represent the first death cause The 45% of Breast Cancer arise in women more than 65 years old and the 33% arise in women of more than 70 years old. Despite these data elderly women are often excluded from screening schedules, moreover despite there is no evidence that breast cancer is less aggressive in elderly patient they are generally non considered in trial studies so that they are under treated if compared to young patients that's why we cannot observe a decrease of mortality such as in younger patients Relative survival between 5 and 10 years in patients more than 75 years old it's lesser than the one observed in younger patients (between 45 and 70 years old) maybe that's because of the incongruity in the access to sanitary structures and because of the social and economic discomfort. When we speak about Breast Cancer we cannot be able to leave a multidisciplinary approach out of consideration. Patient's evaluation must be done by a group of dedicated specialists that are: Radiologist, Pathologist, Surgeon, Radiotherapist and Oncologist. The team need to analyze all data to improve treatment and obtain a better cosmetic result [4]. Complex cases must be discussed collectively before surgery to obtain the best therapeutic strategy. Moreover it's strictly important patient's involvement in treatment selection. Consensus is mandatory and it can be obtained only if the patient is well informed about treatment phases, adverse effects, and results.