Women above age 66 with metastatic breast cancer does not always produce a complete range of treatments post mastectomy fashion. A study done at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston showed that almost half of all senior women with advanced breast disease does not get radiation therapy after their surgery.
The researchers sifted through data from more than 38,000 66 women who had a mastectomy between 1999 and 2005. In the group that has been studied, 8,000 patients had metastatic breast cancer, but less than 4,000 had radiation in addition to surgery. Guidelines recommend that the radiation will be offered to women with advanced disease after a mastectomy were published during the six years that this study covered. So experts recognized that the benefits of radiation for breast cancer, even after removal of a breast-remember that the chest wall and the lymph nodes may be affected, but many women did not get additional treatment. Dr. Benjamin Smith, co-author on this study, considered the possible reasons behind these results.
Many patients may have been offered, but decided not to take it. Before the guidelines were published, more considered radiation oncologists to be ineffective after a mastectomy. So a historical bias against radiation post mastectomy fashion may have resisted additional treatment for some women. In other cases, women who were more than 80 years seemed to be less likely to get radiation after breast surgery. These patients are considered to be trade-offs between quality of life and longevity and decided that life for six or more weeks of radiation-more recovery time-it doesn't seem like their best choice which women may not have lived within close range to a clinic of radiation, then drive or staying in a hotel during the treatment may not be an option. Cost of treatment and access to health insurance could also be a factor.
If you were age 66 or older with the diagnosis, you want the full range of treatments for advanced breast cancer? or you prefer to stick with the basic surgery and chemotherapy that many patients opt for? What influenced your decision? Please leave your comments below.
No comments:
Post a Comment