Young women who have surgery quickly after a breast cancer diagnosis have the best chances for survival, according to a new study from researchers at Children's Hospital of Orange County in Orange, California.
For the study the researchers reviewed health records from 8,860 breast cancer patients in California between 1997 and 2006. They found that those teens with breast cancer that underwent surgery within two weeks had a survival rate of 84 percent while those who waited six weeks had a survival rate of 78% percent.
"After a diagnosis of breast cancer is established, it may be difficult for a physician to make arrangements for surgery because of barriers such as a patient's lack of insurance or pending public insurance due to unemployment," the researchers explained in their report. "Consequently, although surgical delay time is seen mostly as a physician-related delay, it can be affected by other patient-related factors such as insurance status and SES."
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com