A new study from Aarhus University suggests that single women and women without employment are more likely to discontinue their breast cancer treatment. According to the study, which includes 4353 women diagnosed with breast cancer between 2002 and 2011, there is a significant difference in the treatment process depending on the women’s social and work-related status. Women who live alone or are outside the labor market have a higher tendency to interrupt their anti-hormone treatment compared to women who have a partner or are employed.
Julie A. Schmidt, a postdoctoral researcher at the Clinical Epidemiology Department at Aarhus University, points out that discontinuing treatment increases the risk of breast cancer recurrence. Among the women who discontinued treatment, the recurrence rate was 20 percent compared to 11 percent for those who completed the treatment. The study shows that 21 percent of single women or women without employment did not finish their treatment, while the figures for women with a partner and women in employment were 15 and 16 percent, respectively. Overall, 17 percent of all participants failed to complete their treatment.
The reasons why women discontinue treatment, however, still remain unclear. Julie A. Schmidt emphasizes the importance of further investigating the reasons and providing extra support to women who are at higher risk of discontinuing their treatment. The anti-hormone treatment, which lasts at least five years, helps reduce hormone production, which can promote cancer cells, and it is therefore critical that the treatment is completed to reduce the risk of recurrence.
The study uses data from administrative registries and the Danish Breast Cancer Group and highlights the need for increased attention and support for particularly vulnerable groups of women in the treatment process.