title: Radiotherapy for Metastatic Breast Cancer in Mexico: Results from the 2015 National Survey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Radiation therapy is a keystone to improve survival and quality of life in breast cancer patients. In Mexico, however, scarce information is available on the obstacles faced by radio-oncologists to provide appropriate treatment.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the most frequent issues faced by physicians to provide radiation therapy for metastatic breast cancer in Mexico.
  
  
  METHODS
  A survey of 16 multiple-choice questions to be answered electronically by 167 radio-oncologists currently working in Mexico was designed and thereafter analyzed for differences between private and public practices, based on the responses from the surveyed participants.
  
  
  RESULTS
  98.5% of surveyed responders attended patients with breast cancer. We observed a significant difference between private vs. public practice for the main difficulties in providing radiation therapy, with an increased frequency (85.8%) of "treatment cost by itself" in private practice vs. 50.7% in public practice (p < 0.05). Significant differences were observed in the "Time to initiate treatment" question, with "Less than one week" as the response in 86% of those physicians in private practice vs. 50% for those in public practice (p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Using a survey targeted at radio-oncologists, we analyzed the most important obstacles for accessing radiation therapy for metastatic breast cancer in Mexico. This information may be useful for healthcare decisions related to radiation therapy in women with breast cancer in Mexico.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy, Instituto Nacional de Cancerología, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Nora
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Álvarez-Águila
authors.affiliation: Harvard Global Equity Initiative, Department of Global Health & Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Hilary
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.|Biomedical Research Unit in Cancer, Instituto Nacional de Cancerología and Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Diddier
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Prada
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy, Instituto Nacional de Cancerología, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Aida
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mota-García
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Research Unit in Cancer, Instituto Nacional de Cancerología and Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Luis A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Herrera
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Research Unit in Cancer, Instituto Nacional de Cancerología and Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mohar-Betancourt
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Research Unit in Cancer, Instituto Nacional de Cancerología and Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Abelardo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meneses-García
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Coral Gables, Florida, USA.|University of Miami Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas, Coral Gables, Florida, USA.|Programa Universalidad y Competitividad en Salud, Fundación Mexicana para la Salud, Mexico City, Mexico.|Asociación "Tómatelo a Pecho", Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Felicia M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Knaul
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008800:Mexico; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011331:Private Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011364:Professional Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011788:Quality of Life; D000072378:Radiation Oncologists / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013997:Time Factors