Dr. O'Regan on Treatment of Breast Cancer in Premenopausal Women

Ruth O’Regan, MD, division head of Hematology and Oncology in the Department of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, discusses treatment for premenopausal patients with breast cancer.

Overall, only 20% of breast cancer occur in women who are still having regular periods, states O’Regan. Less than 10% occur in women of the age of 40 and less than 2% in women under the age of 35.

If one looks biologically what you find is that they are more likely to get triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), explains O’Regan. They are less likely to get luminal A cancers. However, there are data demonstrating that as the age increases, the rate of TNBC goes down and the rate luminal A goes up.