Use of trastuzumab for breast cancer: the impact of age.

Indication for the use of trastuzumab was given in Italy in 2000 for the treatment of HER-2 metastatic breast cancer and in
\n2006 for early stage breast cancer. Information on trastuzumab use and on its possible variation with age in Italy is however limited. Using
\nhealth care administrative databases, we evaluated the prevalence of the use of trastuzumab, and the probability for administration
\nsince the first hospitalization for breast cancer in various age groups, in two series of Italian women diagnosed with breast cancer in the
\nLombardy region (2004-2009) and in the Palermo district. The rate between trastuzumb users and patients with a hospitalization for
\nbreast cancer increased from 2.9% in 2004 up to 17.2% in 2009 in Lombardy. Patients aged <65 years were more frequent users (9.6%)
\ncompared to those aged 75 years (1.3%). Similarly, in the Palermo district the proportion of users increased from 10.6% in 2006 to
\n28.5% in 2008, with subjects aged <65 years more frequently using trastuzumab (19.1%), than subjects aged 75 years (6.2%). The rate
\nratio between younger and older patients decreased over time in both settings (from 15 in 2004 to 10.2 in 2006, and 5.2 in 2009 in
\nLombardy, and from 4.0 in 2006 to 2.3 in 2009 in Palermo district). The proportion of breast cancer patients using trastuzumab increased
\nover time both in Lombardy and in Palermo District, though geographical differences persisted. Younger breast cancers patients were
\nmore likely to receive a trastuzumab treatment than elderly ones.