Breast cancer patients not completing treatment

A new study has reported that half of breast cancer patients are not completing their scheduled medications or stop taking them completely. This decision is very disturbing as it puts them at high risk for relapse and possibly even death. The findings of this study, come at a time when doctors are working closely with their patients to reduce side effects and also giving them more responsibility for their own aftercare. A spokesperson for the American Society of Clinical Oncology and an expert on breast cancer, stated that there are over fifty drugs for cancer that are in pill form and can be taken home and self-administered.

The study focused on woman who had breast cancer that was brought on by estrogen. These woman were given hormonal treatments for five years. The drugs they were given prevent the estrogen in their bodies from inducing the growth of tumors and lower their risk of relapsing by 40% and the risk of death by 10%. Authors of the study stated that in a five-year period of continuously taking the drugs they can see how some women would gradually stop taking the medications. They also stated that some other reasons the medications may have been halted is due to some of the side effects. Some side effects include hot flashes, problems sleeping, changes in mood, and vaginal dryness, which is sometimes severe.

Another reason, those in the study stated, was that women who are taking these drugs should not get pregnant. So they were not surprised to find that the youngest patients in their studies were the ones most likely to not complete the regimen of drugs. Dawn Hershman of Columbia University Medical Center, the study’s author, commented that women should never stop taking medications that have been prescribed to them without first consulting with their doctor, who would be able to assist them concerning any side effects or financial difficulties that may prevent them from purchasing the prescriptions.