ReviewDeutsches Arzteblatt international2011
Adjuvant therapy for women over age 65 with breast cancer.
Review in Deutsches Arzteblatt international, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- DEGRO practical guidelines: radiotherapy of breast cancer I: radiotherapy following breast conserving therapy for invasive breast cancer.Strahlentherapie und Onkologie : Organ der Deutschen Rontgengesellschaft ... [et al] · 2013Guideline
- Comorbidity patterns and their associations with performance status and treatment receipt in breast and colorectal cancers in a multiethnic Asian setting: a latent class analysis.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Article
- Article
- Adjuvant regimens with trastuzumab administered for small HER2-positive breast cancer in routine clinical practice.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2015Observational
- Early-Stage Breast Cancer in the Elderly: Confronting an Old Clinical Problem.Journal of breast cancer · 2015Review
- When are breast cancer patients old enough for the quitclaim of local control?Strahlentherapie und Onkologie : Organ der Deutschen Rontgengesellschaft ... [et al] · 2012Review
- Correspondence (letter to the editor): No call for undertreatment.Deutsches Arzteblatt international · 2012Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWomen over age 65 with breast cancer are often not treated in accordance with current guidelines as far as adjuvant therapy is concerned, because of the lack of adequate scientific evidence.
methodsThis article is based on a selective review of pertinent literature retrieved by a PubMed search, as well as on the German S3 guidelines for the diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up care of breast cancer, the treatment recommendations of the German Working Group on Gynecological Oncology (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Gynäkologische Onkologie, AGO) and the German Society of Radiation Oncology (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Radioonkologie), US National Comprehensive Cancer Network, and the Cochrane database.
resultsWomen over age 65 are underrepresented in randomized trials of treatments for breast cancer. Geriatric assessment is essential for therapeutic decision-making. Endocrine treatment is feasible for nearly all patients with hormone-sensitive tumors. In selected patients over age 65, chemotherapy significantly improves overall survival. The best evidence regarding toxicity is available for anthracycline monotherapy and for combined therapy with doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide or taxane/doxorubicin. Women without cardiac disease can be given trastuzumab, which may lead to reversible cardiotoxicity. Adjuvant radiotherapy significantly improves local tumor control and survival. Adjuvant radiotherapy that is carried out with modern treatment planning, as recommended by the current guidelines, is no more toxic to older patients than to younger ones; thus, it should always be given, unless there is a special reason not to.
conclusionWomen with breast cancer over age 65 whose life expectancy is greater than 5 years, and who are not otherwise too ill, should be given chemotherapy, trastuzumab, and radiotherapy as standard adjuvant treatment. Adjuvant therapy can be reduced or omitted in frail patients. Patients over age 65 should be given the opportunity to enroll in clinical trials.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.