Doctors slow to adopt changes in breast cancer treatment

Cancer doctors want the best, most effective treatment for their patients. But it turns out many aren’t paying attention to evidence that older women with early stage breast cancer may be enduring the pain, fatigue and cost of radiation treatment although it doesn’t increase life expectancy.

Researchers from Duke University Medical Center analyzed the impact of a large randomized trial published in 2004 that compared treatment options for women over the age of 70 with early-stage breast cancer. That study compared cancer recurrence and survival rates among women who had surgery, chemotherapy and radiation to that of women who had surgery and chemotherapy only.

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