Approximately 7% of women with breast cancer are diagnosed before the age of 40 years, and this disease accounts for more than 40% of all cancer in women in this age group. Survival rates are worse when compared to those in older women, and multivariate analysis has shown younger age to be an independent predictor of adverse outcome. Inherited syndromes, specifically BRCA1 and BRCA2, must be considered when developing treatment algorithms for younger women. Chemotherapy, endocrine, and local therapies have the potential to significantly impact both the physiologic health -including future fertility, premature menopause, and bone health-and the psychological health of young women as they face a diagnosis of breast cancer.Although a diagnosis of breast cancer is distressing at any age, this occurrence in young women is fraught with several unique challenges. This article reviews the distinct epidemiology, etiology, clinicopathologic characteristics, biology, treatment strategies, outcomes, and psychosocial challenges of breast cancer before 40 years of age. Also included in this review are issues of familial breast cancer, fertility, premature menopause, breast cancer during pregnancy, and bone health. The US Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database was the source of data for the tables and graphs presented here. 1 EpidemiologyThe American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that 182,460 women in the United States were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008 and that 40,480 women died of the disease during the year. 2 The incidence of breast cancer appears to have a sigmoid function in women less than 55 years of age (Figure 1, lower panel), with 6.6% of all cases diagnosed before age 40, 2.4% diagnosed before age 35, and 1% diagnosed before age 30 (Figure 2, inset). The individual average risk of a woman developing breast cancer was 1 in 173 by the age of 40 and approximately 1 in 1,500 by the age of 30 (Table 1). Of all cancers diagnosed among women, more than 40% is breast cancer by the age of 40, 20% by the age of 30, and slightly more than 2% by 20 years of age (Figure 1, upper panel).

Care for children and their families should be coordinated by a multidisciplinary team in consultation with children and their families, and should be linked and integrated with the treating hospital in collaboration with community services.

Education of health professionals and parents regarding the concepts and introduction of palliative and supportive care is required. Care for children and their families should be coordinated by a multidisciplinary team in consultation with children and their families, and linked and integrated with the treating hospital in collaboration with community services. More inclusive criteria are required for community services including practical aids and respite care.

11502 Background: Five-year survival of RR-ES is about 15%. Several chemotherapy regimens are used, but without robust evidence. rEECur, the first randomised controlled trial in this setting, is defining a standard of care, balancing efficacy and toxicity. Methods: Patients aged 4 to 50 with RR-ES and fit to receive chemotherapy were randomised between topotecan & cyclophosphamide (TC), irinotecan & temolozomide (IT), gemcitabine & docetaxel (GD) or high-dose ifosfamide (IFOS). Primary outcome measure was objective response (OR) after 4 cycles by RECIST 1.1. Secondary outcomes included PFS, OS and toxicity. A probability-based Bayesian approach was used with multiple pairwise comparisons. At the first interim analysis patients allocated to GD had worse OR and PFS than the other arms and accrual to the GD arm was halted. The second interim assessment was planned to determine which arm should be closed when at least 75 evaluable patients had been recruited to the remaining arms and evaluated for the primary outcome measure. Results: 366 patients (87% RECIST-evaluable), recruited between 18/12/14 and 17/12/19, were randomised to TC (n=124), IT (118), GD (72) and IFOS (53). Median age was 20 years (range 4-49). Patients had: refractory disease (19%), first recurrence (66%), > first recurrence (14%). Initial disease site was bone in (66%). Sites of progression were: primary site only (16%) pleuropulmonary only (32%), other metastatic (52%). At median follow up of 9.2 months, outcome in the IT arm was: response rate 20%, median PFS 4.7 months (95% CI: 3.4 to 5.7), median OS 13.9 months (95% CI: 10.6 to 18.1). The table shows, for each pairwise comparison of IT with the other open arms (randomly labelled A and B to maintain blinding), the probabilities that OR, PFS and OS were better for X than for each other arm (RR = risk ratio, HR = hazard ratio). For OR, PFS and OS, all comparisons favoured arms A and B. The main grade 3/4 adverse events (% patients with an event) for IT (left hand values) compared with A and B pooled were: vomiting (6% v 1%), nausea (6% v 0%), diarrhoea (17% v 0%), fatigue (3% v 1%) and febrile neutropenia (3% v 24%). Conclusions: The first randomised trial in RR-ES has shown that IT, used as a control arm in planned and ongoing randomised phase II studies in RR-ES, is less effective than A and B in achieving tumour shrinkage or prolonging PFS and OS. The remaining two arms are continuing to recruit patients. Clinical trial information: ISRCTN36453794 . [Table: see text]

Providing a sensitive and proactive discussion about fertility-related risks may benefit AYAs' well-being. Services with an AYA focus are fulfilling their mandate of ensuring optimal fertility-related care for AYA cancer patients.