Breast cancer treatment of older women in integrated health care settings.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

A substantial literature describes age-dependent variations in breast cancer treatment, showing that older women are less likely to receive standard treatment than younger women. We sought to identify patient and tumor characteristics associated with the nonreceipt of standard primary tumor and systemic adjuvant therapies.

Patients and methods

We studied 1,859 women age 65 years or older with stage I and II breast cancer diagnosed between 1990 and 1994 who were cared for in six geographically dispersed community-based health care systems. We collected demographic, tumor, treatment, and comorbidity data from electronic data sources, including cancer registry, administrative, and clinical databases, and from subjects' medical records.

Results

Women 75 years of a

SUBMITTER: Enger SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1913483 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature