Timely Breast Cancer Treatment Can Improve Survival Rates

Physicians recommend beginning a treatment regimen as quickly as possible after breast cancer is diagnosed. Receiving treatment in a timely manner will reduce the risk that the cancer will spread and it increases the chances of survival for the individual. However, if breast cancer treatment is delayed too long it can have an impact on mortality rates.

The Study

Confirming results from earlier research, two separate studies have found delaying surgery for breast cancer by 30 days and chemotherapy for 90 days, can lead to a decreased survival rate. The results of these studies were published in the December 10th, 2015 JAMA Oncology journal.

In the study, the research team reviewed the records of 24,843 women, particularly information about when they began receiving chemotherapy. The females were diagnosed with stage I to III breast cancer between 2005 and 2010. The following information was discovered:

•21% began chemotherapy 30 or less day after surgery
•50% started chemotherapy 31 to 60 days after surgery
•19.2% began chemotherapy 61 to 90 days prior to surgery
•9.8% started chemotherapy 91 days or more after surgery

The team considered chemotherapy started 91 or more days after surgery to be a delay in treatment.

When compared to women who began chemotherapy within 30 days of having surgery, women who started chemotherapy 91 or more days prior to surgery experienced the following risks:

•Were more likely to die from breast cancer- doctors call this worse breast cancer-specific survival
•Were more likely to die from any other causes-doctors call this worse overall survival

There was no difference in the survival rates for women who began chemotherapy within thirty days of surgery and those who waited until 31 to 90 days after surgery.

Women who are diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer who began chemotherapy 91 days or more after surgery were drastically affected by a delay in treatment, they were 5 percent more likely to die from breast cancer, when compared to those who began chemotherapy within 30 days.

Triple-negative breast cancer is an estrogen-receptor negative, progesterone-receptor negative and HER2-negative form of cancer.

The most common reasons why women delay chemotherapy include:

•Breast reconstruction surgeries
•Low income
•Were Hispanic
•Were African American

Conclusion:

Dr. Mariana Chavez-MacGregor, of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and other authors of the study state, “Given the results of our analysis, we should suggest that all breast cancer patients that are candidates for adjuvant chemotherapy should receive treatment within 91 days of surgery or 120 days from diagnosis. Administration of chemotherapy within this time frame is feasible in clinical practice under most clinical scenarios, and as medical oncologists, we should make every effort not to delay the initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy.”

If you have recently been diagnosed with breast cancer, it is important to make sure to do some research to ensure your diagnosis is right and that your treatment makes sense. These studies strongly suggest it also a good idea to have surgery within 30 days of being diagnosed and to begin chemotherapy within 90 days of surgery, particularly if you’ve been diagnosed with stage I or II triple-negative breast cancer.

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