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Health problems increase a woman’s risk of dying from breast cancer

Category: Breast

Older women with certain health problems who receive positive breast cancer tests may be more likely to die, according to a new study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Researchers from the University of Colorado reviewed the health records of more than 62,000 women who were diagnosed with breast cancer between 1992 and 2000. The results showed that stage I breast cancer patients who had one of 13 other health complications had death rates nearly identical to women with stage II breast cancer and no comorbidities.

The team considered complications including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic renal failure, congestive heart failure, dementia, diabetes, liver disease, heart attack, paralysis, peripheral vascular disease, previous cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, stroke and ulcers.

The researchers wrote in their report that oncologists should pay just as much attention to thier patients’ other health conditions as the cancer, as this may play an important role in whether or not they survive.

"Careful attention to the effective management of comorbid conditions, as well as to the management of a patient's cancer, may result in longer overall survival for older breast cancer patients," the researchers wrote in their report.