Regional chemotherapy differences may impact survival among older breast cancer patients
· News-MedicalThe proportion of women with early breast cancer who receive chemotherapy varies significantly across different regions of Sweden. A study from Karolinska Institutet, published in the journal Breast Cancer Research, shows that these differences may affect survival among women aged 65 and over.
The study includes just over 62,000 breast cancer patients diagnosed between 2007 and 2023, with data retrieved from the Swedish National Quality Registry for Breast Cancer (NKBC).
The researchers investigated how often chemotherapy was used in different healthcare regions and whether these differences were associated with patients' prognosis.
Clear differences despite national guidelines
In total, 28 percent of breast cancer patients received chemotherapy, but its use varied significantly across the country, from 23 percent in the western healthcare region to 34.7 percent in the Stockholm-Gotland healthcare region.
"We observed clear regional differences in the use of chemotherapy, despite the fact that breast cancer care is based on the same national guidelines," says Johan Hartman, professor at the Department of Oncology-Pathology at Karolinska Institutet and senior consultant at Karolinska University Hospital.
The differences in treatment did not appear to affect survival among women younger than 65. For older women, however, the researchers observed a different pattern. Among women aged 65 or over, the ten-year mortality rate was 27.9 percent in the Stockholm-Gotland healthcare region and 35.8 percent in the western healthcare region, a difference of 7.9 percentage points.
More is needed to ensure equal healthcare
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