Older Women Get Less Breast Cancer Care

Women over 65 with breast cancer get a lower level of care than younger women, a University of Manchester study found.

The study in the British Journal of Cancer revealed older women with breast cancer were less likely to be:

— diagnosed via needle biopsy.

— diagnosed by triple examination, which means an exam by a breast surgeon, mammography and/or ultrasound and fine needle aspiration or core-cut biopsy.

— less likely to undergo surgery.

— less likely to receive radiotherapy.

The research team conducted a retrospective cohort study based on the North Western Cancer Registry database of women 65 and over living in Greater Manchester. The women, who had invasive breast cancer, were registered during a one-year period.

The odds of a woman 80 or older not receiving surgery are more than 40 times higher than compared with a 65- to 69-year-old counterpart. Likewise, women 70 to 74 have more than seven times the odds of not receiving radiation following breast conservation surgery compared with women 65 to 69 years.