Surgical treatment of XXXX in elderly: an international comparison.

@entity1 @entity0
Over 40% of @entity0 @entity1 are diagnosed above the age of 65. Treatment of these elderly @entity1 will probably vary over countries. The aim of this study was to make an international comparison (several European countries and the US) of surgical and radiation treatment for elderly @entity1 with @entity0 . Survival comparisons were also made. Data were obtained from national or regional population-based registries in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, and Portugal. For the US @entity1 were selected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Early stage @entity0 @entity1 aged >=  65 diagnosed between 1995 and 2005 were included. An international comparison was made for breast and axillary surgery, radiotherapy after breast conserving surgery (BCS), and relative or cause-specific survival. Overall, 204.885 @entity1 were included. The proportion of @entity1 not receiving any surgery increased with age in many countries; however, differences between countries were large. In most countries more than half of all elderly @entity1 received breast conserving surgery (BCS), with the highest percentage in Switzerland. The proportion of elderly @entity1 that received radiotherapy after BCS decreased with age in all countries. Moreover, in all countries the proportion of @entity1 who do not receive axillary surgery increased with age. No large differences in survival between countries were recorded. International comparisons of surgical treatment for elderly @entity1 with @entity0 are scarce. This study showed large international differences in treatment of elderly @entity0 @entity1 , with the most striking result the large proportion of elderly who did not undergo surgery at all. Despite large treatment differences, survival does not seem to be affected in a major way.
