06/04/2002By Elda Hauschildt
Communication plays a key role in the care of older women with breast cancer, influencing their receipt of therapy, say United States researchers.
The researchers examined patterns of adjuvant tamoxifen discussion and prescription among breast cancer patients 65 years and older and report that the oldest patients (80 years and older), those with comorbid conditions and those who were estrogen receptor-negative were less likely to report they had discussed tamoxifen therapy with a doctor.
Older patients (70 to 79 years old), those who reported a greater influence of information about tamoxifen on decision-making and those whose doctors believed tamoxifen benefits outweighed risks were more likely to be prescribed tamoxifen.
Investigators from Boston University, Harvard Medical School and the University of Massachusetts in Boston, Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island an the University of California at Los Angeles collected the data on 698 women aged 65 years or more at the time of diagnosis, including patients with stage I, stage II or stage IIIa disease whose doctors gave permission for contact to be made.
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