Debra Pratt, MD a Breast Surgeon at Cleveland Clinicspeaks about Breast Cancer: Finishing Treatment Soon After Diagnosis Increases Survival.
The observational research, which included more than 28,000 breast cancer patients enrolled in the American National Cancer Database and was published in the journal Annals of Surgical Oncology, is the biggest of its type to analyze breast cancer survival and time to completion for all treatments. It was shown that therapy for less than 38 weeks was related with a higher five-year survival rate of 89.9% compared to 83.3 percent for treatment for more than 38 weeks. This expands on earlier research that showed that delaying treatment beginning resulted in worse results, albeit time to treatment completion was not measured in these trials.
The authors of the study emphasize the need of identifying the causes of treatment delays and where they occur in the process, as well as developing programs to evaluate and seek time to treatment optimization in order to reduce patient anxiety and enhance their chances of survival.
Other studies examining the time to treatment for breast cancer by treatment modality found that the optimal time from diagnosis to first surgical treatment was less than 90 days; less than 120 days from diagnosis to adjuvant chemotherapy; and, once chemo is administered, the radiation should begin within 365 days of diagnosis. The final two are in line with the quality parameters of the Commission on Cancer’s Cancer Central Clinical Participant Registry (C3PR).
Although the study did not allow researchers to determine the reasons for delays beyond 38 weeks, Dr. Pratt said she can split them into medical, personal, and systemic issues based on her expertise.