%0 Journal Article
%T Patient-perceived barriers to radiation therapy for breast cancer
%A Keegan Guidolin
%A Michael Lock
%A Muriel Brackstone
%J Archive of "Canadian Journal of Surgery".
%D 2018
%R 10.1503/cjs.015716
%X Studies have shown that a number of women do not receive adjuvant radiation therapy following breast-conserving surgery; the reasons have not been well investigated. We reviewed the charts of 267 patients in our institution who did not receive radiation therapy following surgery in order to determine patient-stated reasons for nonreceipt. We found that 43% of patients did not receive radiation because they received a completion mastectomy. Excluding these patients, reasons for nonreceipt of radiation therapy were sorted into 9 categories. Most patients declined radiation therapy (against physician advice). We identified 3 major barriers to receipt of radiation therapy: improper patient selection, transportation or ambulatory issues and patient fear surrounding radiation toxicity. All of these reasons are surmountable barriers to radiation receipt
%U https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5866151/