Prognostic significance of preoperative MRI findings in young patients with breast cancer

The objective is to evaluate the prognostic value of preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings in breast cancer patients aged less than 40 years. This retrospective, single-center study evaluated 92 women aged <40 years who received a diagnosis of invasive breast carcinoma between 2008 and 2012. These patients underwent a breast MRI before treatment and follow-up at the same institution. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were used to analyze overall survival, with the log-rank test used to compare different groups. Cox regression analysis was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) values. The mean age of the patients was 34 years (range: 25-39 years) and the mean tumor size was 3.9 cm in maximal dimension (range: 0.7-10.5 cm). Recurrence was observed in 21 (22.8%) patients and 15 (16.3%) patients did not survive during a mean follow-up period of 5.4 +/- 1.9 years. MRI findings associated with worse overall survival included tumor size >5 cm (HR: 5.404; 95% CI: 1.922-15.198; p = 0.017), presence of non-mass enhancement (HR: 3.730; 95% CI: 1.274-10.922; p = 0.016) and multifocal tumor (HR: 3.618; 95% CI: 1.151-11.369; p = 0.028). Inconclusion, MRI findings that are suggestive of more extensive disease were associated with worse overall survival in young breast cancer patients.