Delaying treatment for advanced breast cancer more than 60 days has 'profound effect', researchers find
(Medical Xpress)—Results from a new study conducted by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC-James) show women who wait more than 60 days to begin treatment for advanced breast cancer face significantly higher risks of dying than women who start therapy shortly after diagnosis.
"We wanted to see whether delaying treatment affected mortality rates among women with breast cancer," says Electra D. Paskett, associate director for population sciences at OSUCCC-James. "It's been shown that early detection and appropriate, timely treatment can increase five year survival rates to as high as 98 percent. Until this study, we didn't know the profound effect delaying treatment could have," she said.
Paskett is the senior author on the study, which is published online by the Journal of Clinical Oncology. In the study, researchers retrospectively examined 1,786 women enrolled in North Carolina Medicaid system who were diagnosed with breast cancer from January 1, 2000 through December 31, 2002, using the linked North Carolina Cancer Registry-Medicaid Claims database. Follow-up data were available through July 31, 2006.
This video is not supported by your browser at this time.
The median time from biopsy-confirmed diagnosis to the initiation of treatment was 22 days. Sixty-six percent of the women started treatment within 30 days, and nearly all (90 percent) started treatment within 60 days. There was no difference in survival rates for those treated by 60 days.However, for one in ten women studied, treatment started more than 60 days after their cancer diagnosis. Among those who had advanced cases of breast cancer, a delay of more than 60 days was associated with an 85 percent higher risk of breast cancer-related death, and a 66 percent higher risk of death overall, compared with women who were treated sooner.
"We're finding as we do research, it is really the lower income population that suffers the highest burden of all diseases," says Paskett. "This study suggests that ten percent of women can't get access to care, or it takes a longer time to get access to care."
Paskett says interventions to remove barriers and improve the timeliness of breast cancer treatment should focus on late-stage patients. Paskett recently published a study that confirmed patient navigators, often part of the clinical team, help patients negotiate the various complexities of the health care system and play a valuable role in helping breast cancer patients start treatment earlier.
"This research shows we have an opportunity to improve breast cancer outcomes by helping women who are diagnosed at late-stage to get started with treatment sooner," says Paskett. "Even if the goal of treatment isn't curative, early treatment seems to prolong survival."
More information: jco.ascopubs.org/c… ull.pdf+html
Journal reference:
Journal of Clinical Oncology
Provided by
The Ohio State University
-
Black, hispanic women with breast cancer face treatment delays
Feb 01, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Heart disease beats breast cancer as the biggest killer
Jun 19, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Guides help cancer patients navigate health system, complete therapy
Oct 18, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
-
CDC: breast cancer mortality higher in black women
Nov 15, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Increased risk for breast cancer death among black women greatest during first 3 years postdiagnosis
Oct 28, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Motion perception revisited: High Phi effect challenges established motion perception assumptions
Apr 23, 2013 |
3 / 5 (2) |
2
-
Anything you can do I can do better: Neuromolecular foundations of the superiority illusion (Update)
Apr 02, 2013 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
5
-
The visual system as economist: Neural resource allocation in visual adaptation
Mar 30, 2013 |
5 / 5 (2) |
9
-
Separate lives: Neuronal and organismal lifespans decoupled
Mar 27, 2013 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
0
-
Sizing things up: The evolutionary neurobiology of scale invariance
Feb 28, 2013 |
4.8 / 5 (10) |
14
-
Pressure-volume curve: Elastic Recoil Pressure don't make sense
May 18, 2013
-
If you became brain-dead, would you want them to pull the plug?
May 17, 2013
-
MRI bill question
May 15, 2013
-
Ratio of Hydrogen of Oxygen in Dessicated Animal Protein
May 13, 2013
-
Alcohol and acetaminophen
May 13, 2013
-
Marie Curie's leukemia
May 13, 2013
- More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences
More news stories
New smartphone application improves colonoscopy preparation
The use of a smartphone application significantly improves patients' preparation for a colonoscopy, according to new research presented today at Digestive Disease Week (DDW). The preparation process, which begins days in ...
Cancer
19 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Research examines new methods for managing digestive health
Research presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) explores new methods for managing digestive health through diet and lifestyle.
Cancer
20 hours ago |
not rated yet |
1
New colonoscope provides ground-breaking view of colon
A ground-breaking advance in colonoscopy technology signals the future of colorectal care, according to research presented today at Digestive Disease Week(DDW). Additional research focuses on optimizing the minimal withdrawal ...
Cancer
May 18, 2013 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
ASCO: combo antibody therapy effective for melanoma
(HealthDay)—Concurrent use of two immune checkpoint antibodies—ipilimumab and nivolumab—may be effective for the treatment of advanced melanoma, according to a proof-of-principal study presented in ...
Cancer
May 17, 2013 |
not rated yet |
0
Risk factors ID'd for poor cutaneous cell CA outcomes
(HealthDay)—The risks of metastasis and death associated with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) are low, but significant, and risk factors for poor outcome include tumor diameter, invasion beyond ...
Cancer
May 17, 2013 |
not rated yet |
0
|
Researchers identify a potential new risk for sleep apnea: Asthma
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin have identified a potential new risk factor for obstructive sleep apnea: asthma. Using data from the National Institutes of Health (Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)-funded Wisconsin ...
Computational tool translates complex data into simplified 2-dimensional images
In their quest to learn more about the variability of cells between and within tissues, biomedical scientists have devised tools capable of simultaneously measuring dozens of characteristics of individual ...
New theory on genesis of osteoarthritis comes with successful therapy in mice
Scientists at Johns Hopkins have turned their view of osteoarthritis (OA) inside out. Literally. Instead of seeing the painful degenerative disease as a problem primarily of the cartilage that cushions joints, ...
Study finds that sleep apnea and Alzheimer's are linked
A new study looking at sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and markers for Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and neuroimaging adds to the growing body of research linking the two.
'Gap' for HIV vaccine efforts after latest setback
The hunt for an HIV vaccine has gobbled up $8 billion in the past decade, and the failure of the most recent efficacy trial has delivered yet another setback to 26 years of efforts.
Ginger compounds may be effective in treating asthma symptoms
Gourmands and foodies everywhere have long recognized ginger as a great way to add a little peppery zing to both sweet and savory dishes; now, a study from researchers at Columbia University shows purified components of the ...