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Many women report not feeling completely informed about breast cancer treatment options

Press releases may be edited for formatting or style | December 15, 2017 Rad Oncology Women's Health
CHICAGO (Dec. 15, 2017): Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women in the United States, with more than 230,000 women diagnosed annually.* (Skin cancer remains the most common.) Patients often describe the process of making a treatment decision as worrisome, so one research team wanted to explore how these patients became informed about their treatment options, and why some women might feel less than completely informed.

The researchers found that the majority of women who had breast cancer operations reported not feeling completely informed about their treatment options. In a separate study, another research team found a possible solution: using a web-based decision aid tool, which improved patients' knowledge of treatment options more than standard cancer websites. Patients using the decision aid were more likely to recognize that waiting a few weeks to make a decision regarding their breast cancer operations would not negatively impact survival. Results from both studies appear on the Journal of the American College of Surgeons website as "articles in press" ahead of print publication.

"We were really interested in providing the patient perspective," said Sunny Mitchell, MD, a breast surgeon in Stratford, CT, and the lead author of the first study, based on a nationwide survey that found the majority of women did not feel completely informed about their treatment options before undergoing breast cancer surgery. "On top of exploring how women become informed about their treatment options, we also wanted to identify any opportunities for improvement," Dr. Mitchell said.

The study, designed as a post-treatment survey, was administered by an independent public opinion research firm and completed via the Internet in June 2016. Participants were recruited from health advocacy groups, clinics, and other health-related organizations, and were eligible to take the survey if they were female, ages 18-99, received a breast cancer diagnosis, and had undergone lumpectomy, mastectomy, or both procedures. There were 487 respondents who completed the survey.

When asked if researching all their options or making a quick decision was a priority, 35 percent of the lumpectomy-only patients, 31 percent of the mastectomy-only patients, and 22 percent of the group of patients who had both operations, said that making a quick decision was more important. When asked how strongly patients agreed or disagreed that they wished they had more time to explore different breast cancer surgery options, the majority of all three groups agreed somewhat or strongly that they wished they had more time.

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