Black Women Wait Longer for Breast Cancer Surgery

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The researchers were especially concerned by a finding that almost 24 percent of patients didn't receive adjuvant therapy, such as chemotherapy or hormone therapy, after they had their breast cancer surgery. Patients who had surgery more than 60 days after their diagnosis seemed to be less likely to receive adjuvant therapy, which is known to improve survival.

"Most patients should have received such treatment, but it may be that the cancer registry data did not reflect all of this information," Park said.

The researchers also lacked information about patients' insurance status and other data that may help explain some of the time lags between diagnosis and surgery.

"We plan to review individual patient records and collect more information to confirm what we observed and perhaps to think about interventions to provide more timely and complete care," Park said.

The findings were expected to be presented Thursday at an American Association for Cancer Research meeting in Philadelphia.

More information

Breastcancer.org has more about surgery for breast cancer.