Objective  To summarize the clinicopathological and sonographic features of breast malignant tumors in young women.

  Methods  We retrospectively analyzed the clinical, pathological, and sonographic data of 40 young women (≤ 35 years) with pathologically proven malignant tumors of the breast udergoing operation in our hospital from January 2007 to December 2008.

  Results  The mean age of these 40 women was (29.88±5.12) years. The tumors grew rapidly in 14 patients (35%). Three women were at pregnancy or lactation period. Thirty-five patients with a total of 40 malignant tumors underwent ultrasound examination, among which 5 tumors (12.5%) were missed, 4 (10.0%) misdiagnosed as benign tumors, and 31 correctly diagnosed as malignant tumors, yielding an accuracy of 77.5%. The sonographic features of the malignant tumors in young women were as follows:irregular shape (97.1%), ill-defined margin (82.9%), heterogeneous echostructure(97.1%), microcalcifications (74.3%), and rich blood flow (gradeⅡ-Ⅲ) (80.0%). Fifteen women (37.5%) underwent breast-conserving surgery, 4(10.0%) underwent simple breast resection, and 21(52.5%) underwent modified radical mastectomy. Invasive ductal carcinoma was the most common pathological type (n=27, 67.5%). Axillary lymph node metastasis was found in 22 women (55%). During the follow-up(64.08±5.87) months; range, 56-78 months, 8 (20%) patients suffered from recurrence or metastasis. The average time for recurrence was (17.17±12.02) months (range, 4.0-36.0 months) after the surgery.

  Conclusion  The recurrent rate and lymph node metastasis rate of breast malignant tumors are high in young women after surgical treatment, along with complicated and diverse sonographic features.