Researchers at Philadelphia's Fox Chase Cancer Center claim the fact that there is no link between age and breast cancer recurrence.

It has been unanimously thought that younger women suffering from a common form of breast cancer have an increased risk for the disease recurrence than older women. But a new research proves the affirmation is false.

Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is the most common type of breast cancer, a non-invasive one. DCIS, which is not being extended speedily, stays inside the milk duct of the breast in which it started. Usually, patients with this form of the disease resort to lumpectomy, the surgical procedure that involves the removal of the breast. People at higher risk of breast cancer also take tamoxifen medicine.

In the study, researchers looked at the records of 440 patients with DCIS who got radiation therapy on their entire breast. 95% of them also received a radiation boost. The results showed that women of all ages had the same possibilities to be cured of breast cancer. According to the findings, in 7% of cases women confronted with recurrence at 10 years, and in 15% of cases – at 15 years. At 15 years, the incidence was 10% in women 40 or younger, 7% in those ages 41-54, 11% in ages 55-69 and 4% in patients 70 or more.

So, there is no “significant difference in recurrence rates based on age,”  said Aruna Turaka, M.D., researcher at the Fox Chase Cancer Center. “Our study suggests that when treating DCIS with breast-conserving surgery and radiation, very young age plays a smaller role as a contributor to local recurrence than previously suggested.”

The findings were presented at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology in Boston.