Older women less likely to receive chemotherapy for breast cancer

The older a woman is, the less likely she is to receive recommended chemotherapy after breast cancer surgery. This is a finding of a new study reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine (2003:138;90-7), in which the authors say there is “a clear divergence between consensus recommendations and clinical practice.”

The journal editors say (in the “Editors' notes” box accompanying the article): “Since only a minority of postmenopausal women receive adequate treatment for breast cancer, many unnecessary deaths could probably be prevented by following the National Institutes of Health guidelines.”

The study used data from the state-wide, population based New Mexico tumour registry, …