Older Breast Cancer Patient Care Studied

A Medical College of Wisconsin study suggests older breast cancer patients receiving shared care are better cared for than those who don’t.

Shared care is that which is provided by a primary care physician and a cancer specialist.

The study revealed about two-thirds of elderly breast cancer survivors receiving shared care during the first three years after treatment had higher mammography rates in all three years than survivors who saw only a specialist or generalist,

Scientists from the College’s Center for Patient Care and Outcomes Research in Milwaukee evaluated 3,828 older women diagnosed with either in situ, stage I or Stage II breast cancer during 1995. The routine follow-up care the women received was assessed for three years after their cancer was treated.

The researchers also found under-use of mammography was most common among women at greatest risk of recurrence: those treated with breast-conserving surgery without radiation, and those with stage II disease.

The study is detailed in the online issue of Breast Cancer Research and Treatment.