Effect of a Decision Aid on Knowledge and Treatment Decision Making for Breast Cancer Surgery

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Abstract
Breast cancer is common affecting more than 200 000 women per year in North America. It usually presents at an early stage with disease confined to the breast and axillary lymph nodes. Prior to 1980, the standard surgical treatment involved a modified radical mastectomy. In the early 1980s, 2 published randomized trials from Italy and the United States demonstrated that removal of the cancer and radiation to the remaining breast called breast conservation therapy (BCT), resulted in equivalent survival.1,2 Since then 4 other published randomized trials3-6 and a number of meta-analyses7,8 confirmed these findings. Randomized trials have also suggested improved quality of life and satisfaction for women treated with BCT.9,10

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