Why Women Delay Reporting Breast Cancer Symptoms

[Guest guest]

Thursday January 3 5:22 PM ET

Why Women Delay Reporting Breast Cancer Symptoms

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who develop symptoms that don't match their

preconceived notions of breast cancer are more likely to delay seeking medical

care, a team of British researchers reports.

``Symptoms which fail to match the expectations of breast cancer may contribute

to the delay in seeking treatment,'' lead author Caroline Burgess, a research

psychologist at St. 's Hospital in London, and colleagues write.

''This...suggests that the public perception of the presenting symptoms of

breast cancer may need to be broadened.''

Previous research has found that 20% to 30% of women postpone seeking treatment

after discovering symptoms of breast cancer, even though a delay of 3 months or

longer has been found to lower survival rates. The researchers hoped to

investigate reasons why the women stalled in order to better design public

education campaigns encouraging women to see their doctors promptly.

The researchers selected 46 women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. The

women fell into one of two groups: they had either sought treatment within 2

weeks of detecting some symptom of breast cancer, or they had delayed seeking

treatment for more than 3 months.

The investigators conducted open-ended discussions with the women about the

course of their symptom discovery, diagnosis and treatment. The findings were

published in the December issue of the British Journal of General Practice.

Burgess and colleagues found that the women who delayed seeking treatment were

more likely to have developed ambiguous symptoms they did not immediately

recognize as potential breast cancer, such as an inverted nipple or a puckering

of the breast, rather than a well-known symptom such as a small pea-sized lump.

Women who delayed seeking treatment were also more likely to be reluctant to

unnecessarily ``bother'' their doctors and were more likely to place their

health at a lower premium than other pressing job and household needs.

The women who delayed seeking treatment, however, were likely to monitor their

symptoms and be moved to action when these symptoms worsened, the report

indicates.

``This challenges the traditional view that many women who delay presentation

must be 'in denial' about their situation,'' the authors conclude. ``It has been

argued, however, that what appears to be denial of serious medical problems or

non-compliance with treatment could be interpreted as the individual's wish to

explore other options or simply displaying an optimistic or hopeful attitude.''

SOURCE: British Journal of General Practice 2001;51:967-971.

[Guest guest]

This is an important one, a. I hope everyone here, if they should

have any symptoms suspicious of breast cancer, will fall into the " get

to the doctor in two weeks or less " group.

My friend in the neighborhood who was recently diagnosed with breast

cancer just had a second operation to remove her other breast. She

couldn't stand the worry. When they removed her first breast, they found

a tumor that hadn't been detected before the surgery. She is doing very

well.

[ ] Why Women Delay Reporting Breast Cancer Symptoms