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Manitoba has low rate of mastectomies according to cancer report

By: Alexandra Paul

Posted: 10/13/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Manitoba has one of the country's lowest rates of mastectomies, a new report about breast-cancer treatments and diagnoses shows.

The reason is women here have access to radiation following lumpectomies, sparing them the more radical choice of removing an entire breast.

That access to health care makes all the difference, a top cancer specialist in Winnipeg said Friday.

Women who live close enough to travel conveniently to Winnipeg and Brandon -- the location of radiation units -- typically chose lumpectomies over mastectomies.

"Our interpretation of the data for Manitoba is that this reflects women's choices," said Dr. Donna Turner, the provincial director for population oncology.

"The factor that contributes to that, as this data implies, is the distance a woman is from treatment," the epidemiologist said in an interview from CancerCare Manitoba.

A joint study by the Canadian Institute for Health Information and the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer showed a wide range of rates for the two treatments in different provinces.

In Manitoba, 36 per cent of breast-cancer surgeries are mastectomies, based on data gathered from 2007 to 2009. The Canada-wide range was from 26.5 per cent in Quebec to 68.7 per cent in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The treatments are considered equally effective when it comes to survival rates, which have shown a general improvement of about five per cent -- from 82 to 87 per cent -- since 1992-94.

Better access to care is the reason Manitoba opened a radiation unit in Brandon a year ago.

While it's too early for studies to confirm it made a difference, the unit is booked solid, Turner said.

"Many doctors, when they're discussing the options the women would have, say to them, 'You have a choice when you have a lumpectomy, because then you need to have radiation. That means you'll have to relocate for a short time and you will be away from your family,' " Turner said.

For women who chose a mastectomy, the travel time and the absence from family are the deciding factors on choice of treatment, the doctor said.

Other areas of the study showed Manitoba was among the provinces with the lowest wait times for screening and resolution of outcomes after diagnosis. The success of the screening program means 80 per cent of breast cancers are caught in the early stages.

-- with files from Tim Campbell

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 13, 2012 A10

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