Study examines mastectomy and breast-conserving surgery rates
Tuesday, October 13, 2009 - 14:07
in Health & Medicine
There is concern that mastectomy is over-utilized in the United States, which raises questions about the role of surgeons and patient preference in treatment selection for breast cancer. New data from an observational study found that breast-conserving surgery was presented and provided in the majority of patients evaluated. Surgeon recommendations, patient decisions, and failure of breast-conserving surgery were all found to be contributing factors to the mastectomy rate. The findings are published in the October 14 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), a theme issue on surgical care.