Impact of Surgeon Type and Rurality on Treatment and Survival of Ovarian Cancer Patients
Choose your surgeon carefully. Any woman unlucky enough to have ovarian cancer requires surgical removal. This is best done in a centre of excellence, preferably by a surgical oncologist. Unfortunately this is not always possible.
675 women with advanced ovarian cancer from Iowa were included in this study. Of these women, those living in non-urban locations were less likely to have their surgery by a surgical oncologist and also less likely to have complete surgical clearance and to follow the usual chemotherapy regime.
Not surprisingly women who did receive care in a centre of excellence had better outcomes. Survival for these women was increased, being 40% more likely to survive 3 years, compared to women from non-urban environment that did not access the best care. Although not mandatory, surgical oncology medical care does confer an advantage.
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