The optimal surgical treatment option (BCS+RT versus MAST) for young patients with early-stage breast cancer remains debated. The present study aims to explore trends in surgical management and compare survival outcomes between BCS+RT and MAST in young patients with early-stage breast cancer, ultimately providing optimal treatment strategies for Asian populations.

This study is a unique addition to the current research on young women with early-stage breast cancer, aiming to compare the survival outcomes between BCS+RT and MAST, providing valuable insights into their effectiveness for this group of patients. This study enrolled patients at West China Hospital, Sichuan University. Kaplan-Meier analyses with the log-rank test were applied to compare the locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRFS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS), and overall survival (OS). Cox multivariate hazard regression was employed to assess hazard ratios (HRs) between the two groups for survival outcomes.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients aged 18-40 years.
• Pathological diagnosis of invasive breast cancer.
• Undergoing Breast-Conserving Surgery (BCS) with Radiotherapy (RT) or Mastectomy (MAST).
• Availability of detailed clinical information, including:

Tumor (T) stage. Node (N) stage. Clinical stage. Hormone receptor status. Endocrine therapy details. Targeted therapy details.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Male patients.
• Patients with distant metastatic disease.
• Patients with bilateral breast cancer.
• Patients not undergoing surgery.
• Follow-up time of less than 1 month.

The patient data were extracted from the West China Hospital database at Sichuan University. Records between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2019 were included.