A new analysis has found that many women with breast cancer lack knowledge about their illness, with minority patients less likely than white patients to know and report accurate information about their tumors characteristics. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the findings highlight the need to educate patients about their health conditions, which could lead to more informed treatment decisions. Having knowledge about your own health conditions or your risk of developing different conditions can help you take steps to maintain or improve your health. Although previous studies have examined general cancer knowledge, no prior study has examined whether women actually know and understand the details about their own cancers. Rachel Freedman, MD, MPH, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, and her colleagues surveyed 500 women with breast cancer to see how knowledgeable2 they were about their own cancers, including the tumor1 stage, grade, and receptor status . Overall, 32 percent to 82 percent reported that they knew each of the tumor characteristics that they were asked about, while only 20 percent to 58 percent actually reported these characteristics correctly. Black and Hispanic women were often less likely than white women to know their cancer characteristics, even after accounting3 for socioeconomic status and health literacy. After accounting for health literacy and educational attainment4 in particular, some of the knowledge deficits5 went away for Hispanic women but health literacy had little impact on the findings for black women.Our results illustrate6 the lack of understanding many patients have about their cancers and have identified a critical need for improved patient education and provider awareness7 of this issue, said Dr. Freedman. Improving patients understanding about why a particular treatment is important for her individual situation may lead to more informed decisions and better adherence8 to treatment. Dr. Freedman noted9 that improved understanding of ones tumor characteristics and the reasons for personalized treatment recommendations could also improve a womans trust, confidence, and satisfaction with her cancer treatment providers.
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1 tumor n.（肿）瘤，肿块tumour 参考例句： He was died of a malignant tumor.他死于恶性肿瘤。 The surgeons irradiated the tumor.外科大夫用X射线照射那个肿瘤。
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