Medical News

Filed under: Breast Cancer, Clinical Trials, Research, Cancer Survivors

The American Journal of Public Health published a study that states women with early-stage breast cancer have a better survival if they undergo surgery at a hospital that performs large numbers of breast cancer surgeries.

To explore the link between hospital volume and breast cancer survival, researchers conducted a study among more than 11,000 Medicare beneficiaries who underwent surgery for Stage I or Stage II breast cancer. These surgeries were performed at 457 different hospitals in the United States.

Hospital volume of the number of breast cancer surgeries was defined as:

• low volume — zero to nineteen cases per year
• medium volume — twenty to thirty nine cases per year
• high volume — forty or more cases per year

Study participants were followed for roughly five years after surgery:

• Compared to women treated at a low-volume hospital, women treated at a high-volume hospital were 17 percent less likely to die of any cause and 20 percent less likely to die of breast cancer.
• Surgery at the high-volume hospital was linked with better survival among women with lymph-node negative cancer as well as among women with lymph node positive disease.

It appears that the treatment at a hospital that performs a greater number of breast cancer surgeries appears to result in better survival among women undergoing surgery for breast cancer.

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Original post by Kristina Collins

Filed under: Breast Cancer, Clinical Trials, Research, Cancer Survivors

The American Journal of Public Health published a study that states women with early-stage breast cancer have a better survival if they undergo surgery at a hospital that performs large numbers of breast cancer surgeries.

To explore the link between hospital volume and breast cancer survival, researchers conducted a study among more than 11,000 Medicare beneficiaries who underwent surgery for Stage I or Stage II breast cancer. These surgeries were performed at 457 different hospitals in the United States.

Hospital volume of the number of breast cancer surgeries was defined as:

• low volume — zero to nineteen cases per year
• medium volume — twenty to thirty nine cases per year
• high volume — forty or more cases per year

Study participants were followed for roughly five years after surgery:

• Compared to women treated at a low-volume hospital, women treated at a high-volume hospital were 17 percent less likely to die of any cause and 20 percent less likely to die of breast cancer.
• Surgery at the high-volume hospital was linked with better survival among women with lymph-node negative cancer as well as among women with lymph node positive disease.

It appears that the treatment at a hospital that performs a greater number of breast cancer surgeries appears to result in better survival among women undergoing surgery for breast cancer.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Original post by Kristina Collins