Breast radiotherapy symptoms often under-recognized by providers

Reuters Health - 14/12/2020 - Physicians may miscalculate the severity of symptoms from radiotherapy (RT) in women with breast cancer, according to a study presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. "Understanding whether physicians detect when their patients are experiencing substantial toxicity is important because recognition of symptoms is necessary for appropriate supportive care," Dr. Reshma Jagsi from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, said during a press briefing. This study shows that physicians "systematically miss substantial symptoms in certain patients, including patients who are younger or of black or other race, and therefore, improving symptom detection may actually be a targetable mechanism to reduce disparities in radiation therapy experiences and outcomes," she added. The study included 9,868 women who underwent RT following lumpectomy and completed at least one patient-reported outcome (PRO) questionnaire during RT. The P...

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Posted on 14 December, 202015 December, 2020