CHICAGO – When it comes to breast conservation therapy, it’s not what you know, but who you know. According to a survey by researchers from Memphis, TN, whether a patient undergoes lumpectomy or mastectomy is highly dependent upon the consulting surgeon rather than how much a woman knows about treatment options or where she lives in the United States.
Dr. Lillian Rinker, a radiation oncologist at Methodist Healthcare-Central Hospital in Memphis presented the results of this study at an RSNA press conference Monday. The project began with a multidisciplinary breast cancer conference in November 1998. Conferences were open to the entire hospital staff and ideas for treatment options were forwarded to the patient’s physicians prior to the initiation of therapy.
During 1999, seventy physicians attended the conference at least once. Thirty-three attending surgeons provided care to breast cancer patients, with the five most-active surgeons treating 60% of the 18,000 patients.
A total of 196 cases were reviewed, out of which 172 were newly diagnosed cancers. The mean age of patients was 59 years, while the mean tumor size was 2.2 cm. The majority of new cases, 46%, were T1 lesions. Compared to 1998, breast conservation rates among those with eligible T stage increased by 10% to 47%. The biggest jump was in patients with T1 lesions, 54% of whom underwent breast-conserving therapy in 1999 compared to 41% the year before.
Of the 142 women who had early stage cancer and were eligible for lumpectomy, 47% underwent that procedure, which is on par with the national rate of between 45% to 60%, Rinker reported. Lumpectomy rates ranged from 11% to 81% among the five most active surgeons.
“Many women opt for mastectomy because they’re afraid lumpectomy isn’t as effective as mastectomy, and they get subtle hints from their surgeons that mastectomy is the safe route, when research has shown that’s not true,” Rinker said.
By Shalmali PalAuntMinnie.com staff writer
November 27, 2000
Copyright © 2000 AuntMinnie.com
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