Survival Outcomes in Older Women with Oestrogen-Receptor-Positive Early-Stage Breast Cancer: Primary Endocrine Therapy vs. Surgery by Comorbidity and Frailty Levels

Simple Summary This study investigated the outcomes of primary endocrine therapy (PET) compared to surgery for treating older women (>= 70 years) with early-stage oestrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer, specifically considering the impact of patients' frailty and comorbidity levels. Using UK data from 2000 to 2016, the researchers analysed the all-cause mortality and breast cancer-specific mortality among 23,109 patients, stratified by their Charlson comorbidity index and hospital frailty risk score. The findings showed that surgery generally resulted in better overall survival rates compared to PET in patients with higher levels of frailty or comorbidity. Notably, in very frail older women, there was no significant difference in breast cancer-specific mortality between PET and surgery arms. The study concludes that PET could be a viable treatment option for frail older women with early-stage breast cancer, considering the minimal survival benefits offered by surgery in this subgroup.Abstract Primary endocrine therapy (PET) offers non-surgical treatment for older women with early-stage breast cancer who are unsuitable for surgery due to frailty or comorbidity. This research assessed all-cause and breast cancer-specific mortality of PET vs. surgery in older women (>= 70 years) with oestrogen-receptor-positive early-stage breast cancer by frailty and comorbidity levels. This study used UK secondary data to analyse older female patients from 2000 to 2016. Patients were censored until 31 May 2019 and grouped by the Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) and hospital frailty risk score (HFRS). Cox regression models compared all-cause and breast cancer-specific mortality between PET and surgery within each group, adjusting for patient preferences and covariates. Sensitivity analyses accounted for competing risks. There were 23,109 patients included. The hazard ratio (HR) comparing PET to surgery for overall survival decreased significantly from 2.1 (95%CI: 2.0, 2.2) to 1.2 (95%CI: 1.1, 1.5) with increasing HFRS and from 2.1 (95%CI: 2.0, 2.2) to 1.4 (95%CI 1.2, 1.7) with rising CCI. However, there was no difference in BCSM for frail older women (HR: 1.2; 0.9, 1.9). There were no differences in competing risk profiles between other causes of death and breast cancer-specific mortality with PET versus surgery, with a subdistribution hazard ratio of 1.1 (0.9, 1.4) for high-level HFRS (p = 0.261) and CCI (p = 0.093). Given limited survival gains from surgery for older patients, PET shows potential as an effective option for frail older women with early-stage breast cancer. Despite surgery outperforming PET, surgery loses its edge as frailty increases, with negligible differences in the very frail.