Genomic characterization of hormone receptor-positive breast cancer arising in very young women

Very young premenopausal women diagnosed with HR-positive, HER2-negative early-stage breast cancer (EBC) have higher rates of recurrence and death when compared to older patients. Analysis of tumors of patients enrolled in the SOFT clinical trial investigated patient age-related genomic differences between tumors. Women younger than 40 years compared with older women had significantly higher frequencies poor prognostic features: present in 72% of patients aged < 35 years, 54% aged 35-39 years, and 40% aged ≥ 40 years. Among women younger than 40 years the 8-year DRFI and OS were 84% and 88%, respectively, compared with 94% and 96% among older women. The authors conclude that these results provide insights into genomic alterations that are enriched in young patients with HR-positive, HER2-negative EBC.