Liberati A, Andreani A, Colombo F, Confalonieri C, Franceschi S, La Vecchia C, Tognoni G
Lancet. 1982 Jul 31;2(8292):258-60. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(82)90335-x.
The diagnostic and therapeutic care and degree of follow-up delivered to 2406 breast-cancer patients over two years (1978-79) in 31 Italian hospitals are reviewed. Although there was broad agreement about recommended treatment protocols, staging by standard methods was recorded in only 44% of patients, assessment and reporting of side-effects was considered in only 49% of all treated patients, follow-up data at two years were available for only 54% of living patients, and the dropout rate from chemotherapy protocols was 35%. Improvement of these unsatisfactory aspects of care would allow a better appreciation of the real benefit that could be achieved with recommended protocols and would result in a more effective use of health resources.
