Young Women with Breast Cancer: Chemotherapy or Surgery First? An Evaluation of Time to Treatment for Invasive Breast Cancer

Background Breast cancer in young women (ages 18–40 years) is rare, yet remains a leading cause of cancer-related death. Time to treatment (TTT) is an increasingly important factor in breast cancer outcomes, specifically time to systemic therapy. Our objective was to review patterns of care for young women presenting with invasive breast cancer and compare TTT for surgery first versus neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). Patients and Methods A retrospective chart review of young women with non-metastatic, non-inflammatory invasive breast cancer between 2012 and 2018 at a single institution was completed. The primary outcome was time to first treatment (surgery or NAC). Results One hundred forty-two young women were treated for invasive breast cancer during the study period. The majority of patients underwent surgery first (57.7%) compared with NAC (42.3 % ). Women who underwent NAC were more likely to have abnormal lymph nodes on imaging ( p = 0.002) and clinical exam ( p < 0.0001) and were also more likely to have larger tumor sizes ( p < 0.05). The majority of triple negative patients underwent NAC first (88% [14/16]). Median TTT was significantly longer for surgery (27 [range 7–70] days) versus (20.5 [3–50] days) chemotherapy ( p = 0.004). Median number of additional hospital visits prior to surgery was 4 (range 1–8) versus 5 (0–11) for NAC ( p < 0.001). Conclusions Young women with breast cancer who undergo NAC have a shorter TTT and clinically similar median number of hospital visits compared with women undergoing surgery first. These results support the use of NAC in young women, when indicated, as additional workup and consultations prior to NAC do not delay care.