Breast cancer quality reports

Achieving our vision to be a national leader for health requires us to ensure every patient's complete satisfaction in all aspects of care. We work hard to make sure that happens by continually improving our clinical and operational processes. We believe that having better information will help you make better health care decisions.

We know practice makes perfect in health care as in most of life. That's why the number or volume of procedures that a hospital or a physician performs can be a valuable yardstick of clinical quality, especially when considered alongside additional quality measures and other factors. Research suggests that the more a surgical team does the same procedure together and the higher the volume, the better the clinical results. More than 100 studies have demonstrated better results at high-volume hospitals in heart surgery, major cancer resections and other procedures.

National Cancer Database, a joint program of the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons and the American Cancer Society, is a nationwide oncology outcomes database for more than 1,500 Commission-accredited cancer programs in the United States and Puerto Rico.

Quality information is available for the following conditions and procedures:

A woman's chance of developing breast cancer over the course of her lifetime is about 1 in 8. Most cases of breast cancer—about 95 percent—occur in women over the age of 40. Breast cancer is most treatable and curable when it is detected early. That's why the American Cancer Society urges women to get a mammogram every year starting at age 40.

The following chart shows the percentage of patients where radiation therapy is administered within one year (365 days) of diagnosis for women under age 70 receiving breast conserving surgery (lumpectomy) for breast cancer. Performance rates are according to recognized standards of care.

Why does this matter? It is important to start cancer radiation therapy treatment in a timely manner to achieve better patient outcomes.

The following chart shows the percentage of patients where combination chemotherapy is considered or administered within four months (120 days) of diagnosis for women under age 70 with American Joint Committee on Cancer stage T1c, N0, M0, or Stage II or III hormone receptor negative (specifically estrogen receptor (ER-) and progesterone receptor negative (PR-)) cancer.

"T" refers to the size of the tumor, "N" describes whether the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes and "M" shows whether the cancer has spread (metastasized) to other parts of the body.

Performance rates indicate the proportion of women under age 70 with advanced mid-stage hormone receptor negative breast cancer who received or were considered for multi-agent chemotherapy, according to recognized standards of care.

Why does this matter? It is important to start cancer chemotherapy treatment in a timely manner to achieve better patient outcomes.

The following chart shows the percentage of patients where Tamoxifen (anti-estrogen therapy) or third generation aromatase inhibitors (enzyme which synthesizes estrogen in post-menopausal women) is considered or administered within one year of diagnosis for women with American Joint Committee on Cancer T1c, N0, M0 or Stage II or III hormone receptor positive (HR+) cancer.

"T" refers to the size of the tumor, "N" describes whether the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes and "M" shows whether the cancer has spread (metastasized) to other parts of the body.

Performance rates indicate the proportion of women with advanced mid-stage hormone receptor positive (HR+) breast cancer treated or considered for hormonal therapy, according to recognized standards of care.

Why does this matter? It is important to start cancer hormone therapy treatment in a timely manner to achieve better patient outcomes.