Less Therapy May Suit Older Patients With Breast Cancer

"Older women need to be informed of the benefits and risks of their treatment options, including the option of omitting a treatment," said Mara Schonberg, MD, MPH, from the division of general medicine and primary care at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts.

"High quality shared decision-making considers a woman's risk of recurrence, her tumor characteristics, her overall prognosis based on her general health, the lag-time to benefit from the treatment — how long will it take for this treatment to likely have an effect or a real chance of having any benefit for her — and her values and preferences," she explained. Schonberg was speaking at a session on the management of care for older women with breast cancer held during the recent American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting.