What women know about breast cancer treatment

Global Courant

Women in the US have about a 1 in 8 chance of developing breast cancer at some point in their lives, and a three percent chance of dying from it. Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among women worldwide, second only to heart disease in the total number of deaths caused.

Breast cancer treatment is an extremely important issue – yet many women are unaware of their breast cancer treatment options. What do most women know about breast cancer treatment and what can cancer hospitals do to help women make more informed choices?

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer worldwide, the leading cancer in women and the second leading cause of death in women worldwide. It has an incidence more than twice that of cervical and colorectal cancer, and three times that of lung cancer in women. It follows that breast cancer is one of the most researched and publicized conditions – however, many groups in our society know little about their breast cancer treatment options.

Recent research has found that nearly half of women treated for breast cancer were unaware that their chances of survival were the same whether they had a full mastectomy or breast-conserving surgery. One of the biggest impacts of breast cancer on survivors is their mental health and self-image. Losing a breast can have a huge impact on how a woman feels about herself, which in turn affects her overall health and the attention she pays to her body.

The study was conducted by the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. It found that many women don’t understand the differences between breast cancer treatment options, and that minority women are even less aware of the impact their decisions will have on their prognosis. This turned out to be true even though surgeons communicated the differences to their patients in all cases – the information just didn’t seem to be integrated into the decision making process.

One factor the researchers note is that information about breast cancer treatment should be communicated in a culturally appropriate and sensitive manner. With medical tourism and overseas treatment now making up a large portion of the cancer treatment population, this clear communication is more important than ever.

Hospitals that focus on medical tourism, such as Bangkok Hospital in Thailand and Bumrungrad in Thailand, understand the importance of cultural sensitivity when communicating with patients. The Bangkok Hospital, for example, is taking a series of measures to ensure that overseas patients feel as ‘at home’ in the hospital as possible, with different dietary options, a doctor who speaks several languages ​​and translators for all languages ​​not spoken by the doctors themselves, and signage and information in multiple languages.

In many cases, patients find that doctors at Thai breast cancer hospitals, such as Bangkok Hospital and Bumrungrad, have communicated their treatment options to them more clearly than in the West. Both hospitals in Thailand for cancer treatment have specialized breast cancer clinics, focusing on early detection and diagnosis, as well as the treatment of breast cancer in Thailand.

Given the more international, diverse focus of Thailand’s breast cancer hospitals, treatment as a medical tourist may be more meaningful and yield better outcomes for women with breast cancer

What women know about breast cancer treatment

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