The influence of patient characteristics on the appropriateness of surgical treatment for breast cancer patients. Progetto Oncologia Femminile.

In accord with others, this study confirms the existence of a clinically important effect of patient age on diagnostic and therapeutic behaviour and the use of unnecessarily radical surgery procedures. The paper discusses the implications of these findings for the next stage of the educational project, in which practice guidelines will be developed and implemented to improve the quality of care for breast cancer patients.