Dec 19, 2005

Nine Months Wait For Breast Cancer Treatment

I was reading this disturbing report from Scotland this morning. It says that most women with breast cancer have to wait inline for treatment and sometimes the wait may be up to nine months.

Facts and figurers published today show the full extent of the problem facing Scottish women. The longest delay was at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, where a woman referred for urgent care by her GP waited 276 days or nearly 40 weeks before treatment. At three other hospitals, patients waited for four months or more for starting treatment.

Charity Breast cancer organizations are expressing concern regarding this huge delay in starting breast cancer treatment. Lorraine Dallas, head of the charity Breast Cancer Care Scotland, said: "These apparently huge variations in the time that patients with urgent referrals are being forced to wait for treatment in Scotland are simply unacceptable.

The article does not give details to know that these patients had early stage breast cancer or metastatic breast cancer. While a delay of nine months of treatment for metastatic breast cancer could be criminal, a delay of nine months treatment in early stage breast cancer could be nothing less than gross neglect. Early stage breast cancer patients should be started on adjuvant treatment within one to two months of completing surgery.

While socialized medicine has its benefits, but it brings with it long and sometimes unacceptably prolonged waiting for essential medical treatment. The Scotland government has to wake up from slumber and act to lessen the miseries of these unfortunate women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Sherin      

Do You Read All Of Our Cancer Blogs?

Do you read all of the blogs published by medicineworld.org? Many of our bloggers are busy keeping you updated on the various health related topics. We publish the following blogs at this time.

Cancer blog: I manage the cancer blog with lots of help and support form other bloggers. Through this cancer blog my friends and I try to bring stories of hope for patients with cancer. The cancer blog often republishes important blog posts from other cancer related blogs at Medicineworld.org. If you are searching for a blog that covers wide variety of cancer topics, this may be the one for you.

Breast cancer blog: Breast cancer blog is run by Emily and other bloggers and they bring you the latest stories, news and events that are related to breast cancer. Increasing awareness about breast cancer among women and in the general population is the main goal of this breast cancer blog.

Lung cancer blog: Lung cancer blog is managed by Scott with the help of other bloggers. Through this blog Scott and his friends constantly remind the readers about the dangers of smoking. It's a never-ending struggle against this miserable disease with which a social stigma of smoking is associated.

Colon cancer blog: Colon cancer blog is run by Sue and other bloggers. Sue brings a personal touch to the colon cancer blog since her mother died of colon cancer few years ago. She writes about stories, research news and advances in treatment related to colon cancer.

Prostate cancer blog: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among American men. American Cancer Society estimates that over 230,000 new cases of prostate cancer occur in the United state every year. This important blog about prostate cancer is run by Mark and other bloggers. This blog brings news, stories, and other personal observations related to prostate cancer.

Medicineworld.org publishes a diabetes watch blog and this blog is run by JoAnn other bloggers. This diabetes watch blog brings you the latest in the field of diabetes. This includes personal stories, advances in diagnosis and treatment, and other observations about diabetes. Improving awareness about diabetes is an important mission of this group.

Janet      

Breast cancer
Every year, more than 200,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States. Breast cancer ranks second as the leading cause of cancer deaths in American women. Until recently breast cancer topped the list of leading causes of cancer deaths in women, but lately lung cancer has claimed the top position. If skin cancer is excluded, breast cancer is the commonest cancer among American women.