The distance a woman has to travel to reach a radiation therapy facility appears to influence whether she receives the recommended treatment for early-stage breast cancer, investigators report.
Women who live farther away are also less likely to undergo breast-conserving surgery plus radiation as opposed to mastectomy.
Treatment guidelines recommend breast-conserving surgery plus radiation for early stage breast cancers. However, radiation treatment after surgery involves daily treatments for 5 to 6 consecutive weeks, Lydia Voti, at the University of Miami in Florida, and her colleagues explain.