Adherence to recommended treatments for early invasive breast cancer: decisions of women attending surgeons in the breast cancer audit of Australia and New Zealand.

Aim: The study aim was to determine the frequency with which women decline clinicians' treatment recommendations and variations in this frequency by age, cancer and service descriptors.

Design: The study included 36,775 women diagnosed with early invasive breast cancer in 1998-2005 and attending Australian and New Zealand breast surgeons. Rate ratios for declining treatment were examined by descriptor, using bilateral and multiple logistic regression analyses.

Patterns of surgical treatment for women with breast cancer in relation to age.

Although treatment recommendations have been advocated for all women with early breast cancer regardless of age, it is generally accepted that different treatments are preferred based on the age of the patient. The aim of this study was to assess the pattern of breast cancer surgery after adjusting for other major prognostic factors in relation to patient age. Data on cancer characteristics and surgical procedures in 31,298 patients with early breast cancer reported to the National Breast Cancer Audit between 1999 and 2006 were used for the study.