Skip to main content
. 2009 Jul 17;9:246. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-9-246

Table 2.

Physician perspective on factors determining treatment decisions (N = 80), Greater San Francisco Bay Area, 2005–2006

Physician perspective % indicating "yes" *
Most important factors for stage I and II patients treated with MRM over last 2 years
 Presence of multifocal or multicentric disease 86.2
 Tumor size 71.2
 Patient's attitude toward preserving the breast 66.2
 Breast size 50.0
 Age 28.8
 Location of tumor 25.0
 Patient's ability/willingness to travel to receive adjuvant radiation therapy 22.5
 Family history 18.8
 Cosmetic result 17.5
 Adverse effects/outcome 6.2

Most important factors for stage I and II patients treated with BCT over last 2 years
 Patient's attitude toward preserving the breast 87.5
 Tumor size 77.5
 Cosmetic result 73.8
 Breast size 55.0
 Patient's ability/willingness to travel to receive adjuvant radiation therapy 38.8
 Presence of multifocal or multicentric disease 32.5
 Age 30.0
 Location of tumor 22.5
 Adverse effects/outcome 7.5
 Family history 6.2

Reasons why Asian subgroups are more likely to get MRM over BCT
 Patient's attitude toward preserving the breast 52.5
 Breast size 25.0
 Age 11.2
 Patient's ability/willingness to travel to receive adjuvant radiation therapy 10.0
 Tumor size 8.8
 Adverse effects/outcome 8.8
 Cosmetic result 7.5
 Presence of multifocal or multicentric disease 6.2
 Location of tumor 5.0
 Family history 2.5
 Don't know 17.5
 Other 18.8
 Cultural factors 6.2
 Fear 6.2

*Non-response was counted as "No" for that factor.