(Reuters
Health) - - Women with breast cancer often feel rushed to make a
decision about surgery, and some of them might benefit from more time
and better educational materials to inform their treatment choices, two
recent studies suggest.
Pink
balloons are displayed in front of an artificial waterfall during the
"Pink Ribbon" breast cancer awareness campaign at Cheonggye Stream in
central Seoul October 5, 2011. REUTERS/Jo Yong-Hak
One
study surveyed 487 women after they underwent either a lumpectomy that
removes malignant tissue while sparing the rest of the breast, a
mastectomy that removes the entire breast, or both procedures.
Regardless
of what path they took, at least one in five women said choosing
quickly was more important than making an informed decision, and at
least as many patients felt like they didn’t have all the facts before
their operations.
“A breast cancer diagnosis can feel like an
emergency when you are the patient,” said lead study author Dr. Sunny
Mitchell, a breast surgeon in Stratford, Connecticut.
“There is
actually plenty of time to review all treatment options since survival
rates are very high for early-stage breast cancer and do not change if a
woman starts treatment within a few weeks,” Mitchell said by email.
Most
early-stage breast cancer patients have either a lumpectomy or a
mastectomy, and many of them get chemotherapy or radiation afterward to
destroy any remaining abnormal cells and reduce the risk of cancer
coming back.
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