Distance from Radiation Therapy Facility Impacts Breast Cancer Treatment

Breast Cancer Treatment

The farther away a woman lives from a radiation therapy facility, the less likely she is to get lumpectomy with adjuvant radiation therapy for early stage breast cancer, and may instead get mastectomy, according to a new study. Published in the January 1, 2006 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study reveals that being older, of Hispanic origin, or unmarried at diagnosis were also associated with decreased likelihood of treatment with lumpectomy and radiation therapy, and that both geographic accessibility and affordability of insurance influenced women's cancer treatment.

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