Factors women take into account when deciding upon type of surgery for breast cancer

For women with stage I or II breast cancer, randomized trials have demonstrated no significant difference in survival rates between women receiving modified radical mastectomy (MRM) and women receiving breast conserving (BC) surgery. Therefore, many women are now in a position of having a choice between these two options. Twenty-two women who met the surgical criteria for having this choice were interviewed 1 to 2 weeks postsurgery to determine factors they had considered when deciding between MRM and BC, how much they wished to participate in decision-making, and the sources of information they used. The sample was purposefully limited to women attending one clinic in order to insure control over variables such as the information to which patients are exposed. When asked why they had chosen a given surgery, two factors, concerns about radiotherapy (p = 0.003) and body integrity (p = 0.04), emerged as significantly different for women choosing BC vs. MRM. Furthermore, women reported that participation in decision-making was important to them and that they had had sufficient participation in the decision-making process. Finally, they rated "people" sources of information as more important than written or visual materials, suggesting that nurses and other care providers are important in supporting women through the decision-making process.