title: [Significance for prognosis of delayed diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer].
abstract: In a study of 7608 patients with primary breast cancer the effect of patient's and doctor's delay on survival was examined. The delay was arbitrarily divided into the following intervals: Short (0-14 days), intermediate (15-60 days) and long (> 60 days). The delay had significant influence on survival. A long patient's delay was associated with an unfavourable outcome, as compared with a short delay. On the contrary, the prognosis was better for patients with a long doctor's delay compared to that of a short doctor's delay. Overall, when corrected for age, the prognostic value of delay in terms of mortality increased by 24% for a long patient's delay compared to a short one, and by 13% for a short doctor's delay compared to a long one. This suggests that all causes of delay should be kept at a minimum.
authors.affiliation: Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group's (DBCG) sekretariat, Rigshospitalet, København.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Afzelius
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zedeler
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sommer
authors.forename: H T
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Mouridsen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Blichert-Toft
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors
vernacular_title: Prognostisk betydning af forsinket diagnostik og behandling af brystkraeft.