Delayed Treatment for Advanced Breast Cancer Has 'Profound Effect'

http://cancer.osu.edu/mediaroom/releases/Pages/Delayed-Treatment-for-Advanced-Breast-Cancer-Has-Profound-Effect.aspx

Posted: 11/20/2012

Results from a new study conducted by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC-James) show women who wait more than 60 days to begin treatment for advanced breast cancer face significantly higher risks of dying than women who start therapy shortly after diagnosis.

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However, for one in ten women studied, treatment started more than 60 days after their cancer diagnosis. Among those who had advanced cases of breast cancer, a delay of more than 60 days was associated with an 85 percent higher risk of breast cancer-related death, and a 66 percent higher risk of death overall, compared with women who were treated sooner.

“We’re finding as we do research, it is really the lower income population that suffers the highest burden of all diseases,” says Paskett. “This study suggests that ten percent of women can’t get access to care, or it takes a longer time to get access to care.”

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