[Significance for prognosis of delayed diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer].

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.