By Patti Neighmond, NPR
Cancer doctors want the best, most effective treatment for their patients. But it turns out many aren't paying attention to evidence that older women with early-stage breast cancer may be enduring the pain, fatigue and cost of radiation treatment even though it doesn't increase life expectancy.
Researchers from Duke University Medical Center analyzed the impact of a large randomized trial published in 2004 that compared treatment options for women over the age of 70 with early-stage breast cancer. That study compared cancer recurrence and survival rates among women who had surgery, chemotherapy and radiation with that of women who had surgery and chemotherapy only.
While there was a slight decrease in recurrence of cancer in the group who had radiation, there was no difference in survival, thus raising the question of whether radiation treatment for this group of patients is worthwhile.
According to Dr. Rachel Blitzblau, a radiation oncologist at Duke University Medical Center and lead author of the study, which was published this week in the journal Cancer, "we should consider omitting radiation for these women, because the small observed benefits might not be worth the side effects and costs."