Results from a new study in the journal Health Services Research show that only one-half of women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer clearly understand the risks vs. benefits of treatment options, including breast-conserving lumpectomy plus radiation.

By surveying 1,132 women from Detroit and Los Angeles who had undergone surgery for ductal carcinoma in situ or invasive but not metastatic breast cancer, investigators learned about patients' racial and ethnic differences in relation to their discussions and knowledge concerning mastectomy vs. lumpectomy with radiation.

Only 51 percent of those surveyed knew that a mastectomy or a lumpectomy plus radiation produced the same five-year survival rate. Nearly the same number reported uncertainty concerning recurrence rates following the two treatment methods. Women with less education, older women, black and Hispanic women were less likely to be knowledgeable about breast cancer survival and recurrence than the general population of women studied.

The authors recommended interventions to improve patient understanding of the risks and benefits of cancer treatments from surgeons and other treatment providers. The report appears in a recent online edition of Health Services Research.