Choice of local therapy for young women with early-stage breast cancer who have young-aged children. Cancer 2020 Nov 01;126(21):4761-4769
Date
08/07/2020Pubmed ID
32757314Pubmed Central ID
PMC9109152DOI
10.1002/cncr.33099Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85088997418 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 1 CitationAbstract
BACKGROUND: Decision making regarding the initial treatment of women with breast cancer is complicated. In the current study, the authors examined the relationship between treatment choices and their children's ages among young women with early-stage breast cancer.
METHODS: Using the MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters database, the authors identified women aged 20 to 50 years who underwent lumpectomy or mastectomy for early-stage breast cancer between 2008 and 2014. Predictors of compliance with radiotherapy after undergoing lumpectomy and of undergoing mastectomy were determined using multinomial logistic regression. The authors conducted sensitivity analyses to explore the impact of the number of young-aged children and a reduction in the sample size in 2014 due to the attrition of health plans contributing to MarketScan.
RESULTS: A total of 21,052 women were included in the current analysis. Among women with at least 1 child aged <7 years, the adjusted rate of lumpectomy was 59.9%; approximately 22% of these women did not receive radiotherapy. Compared with women undergoing lumpectomy plus radiotherapy, women with at least 1 child aged <7 years or aged 7 to 12 years were 25% and 16%, respectively, more likely to undergo lumpectomy alone compared with women with no children aged <18 years (P = .002 and P = .012, respectively) and 64% and 37%, respectively, more likely to undergo mastectomy (P < .001).
CONCLUSIONS: Among privately insured women with breast cancer, having young children was found to be strongly associated with the omission of postlumpectomy radiotherapy or undergoing mastectomy. Having >1 young-aged child further amplified these associations. The findings of the current study suggested that caring for young children may present unique challenges to young women with breast cancer.
Author List
Pan IW, Yen TWF, Huo J, Chen C, Smith BD, Shih YTAuthor
Tina W F Yen MD, MS Professor in the Surgery department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdultBreast Neoplasms
Female
Humans
Middle Aged
Neoplasm Staging
Young Adult
