Surgery Lag Harms Young with Breast Cancer

Young women with breast cancer don’t live as long if they delay treatment 6 weeks or more, a new study finds. These delays occur about twice as often for young women who are black, Hispanic, poor, on Medicaid or uninsured. About 6% of breast cancers occur in young women. These cancers are more likely to grow and spread quickly than breast cancers in older women. Researchers looked at medical records for 8,860 women, ages 15 to 39. About 8% of white women and 15% of black and Hispanic women received treatment at least 6 weeks after diagnosis. About 80% of those who delayed treatment lived at least 5 years. That compares with 90% survival for those treated within 2 weeks after diagnosis. Fewer than 10% of women with private insurance had delayed treatment, compared with 18% of those who had Medicaid or no insurance.