Breast Cancer for 80 year old woman

should an 80 year old woman have a mastectomy?


This discussion is related to Brest Cancer 91 year old women.

[PaulMD]

Hi there.

The decision regarding the treatment of breast cancer for women more than 70 years old is less clear cut, but if the patient is strong, ambulatory, and does not have any significant co-morbid conditions (like heart diseases, diabetes, stroke, etc), then a mastectomy will be a prudent procedure.  After the surgery, the next question will be on what type of adjuvant treatment can be employed (chemotherapy or hormonal therapy) and some studies would lean more towards a less intense treatment in the form of hormonal therapy (if the cancer is hormone receptor positive).

Hope this helps.  Regards.

[kittihendrix]

My grandmother was just diagnosed with breast cancer after a lump in her left breast was located on a CT scan for other things...they did a mammagram last monday and they did the masectomy this tuesday, things seem to be ok for her

we are just waiting for results to see if they got it all or not...hopefully they did

My grandma was in fairly good health until a few months ago, they found an ulcer in that CT scan also so she is being treated for that also

The DR suggested that the masectomy was the best option to prevent the cancer from spreading and felt that she was strong enough for the surgery.

[kittihendrix]

sorry forgot to mention that my grandma is 91