A new study found that, despite warnings that radiation therapy offers minimal benefits to elderly breast cancer patients, two out of three women over age 70 are still receiving unnecessary radiation.
Researchers at Duke University Medical Center looked at the data of 40,583 women aged 70 and above, between 2000 and 2004 and compared it to other data gathered between 2005 and 2009. During the first study, 68.6 percent of the patients underwent radiation therapy. This number dropped by only 6.9 percent between 2005 and 2009.
On a positive note, researchers saw that the type of radiation used for treatment improved from whole breast radiation to focused radiation treatment. The findings implied that the result of the 2004 study failed to fully influence doctors to change their practices.
"Our findings highlight the fact that it may be challenging for practitioners to incorporate clinical trial data that involves omitting a treatment that was previously considered standard of care," study author Dr. Rachel Blitzblau of Duke University, said in a news release.
"If a treatment regimen has been working well, and data are new, there can be concern that de-escalation of treatment may ultimately be shown to worsen outcomes."
Blitzblau's study concluded that two-thirds of elderly patients with breast cancer are still receiving unnecessary radiation therapy, even if doctors are aware that it will not improve overall survival. She believes that the doctors might be hesitant about changing the standard practice due to lack of longer-term data, as well as apprehension that skipping the radiation therapy might worsen the condition of the breast cancer patient.
"It's important to improve patient and doctor communication to ensure that the right patients are getting the right treatment at the right time," Blitzblau said to WebWire. "As we work toward more efficient and evidence-based medical practice in all medical specialties, we will need to understand what processes may be needed to spur change."
This study was published in the Dec. 8 issue of Cancer.
