A FRIENDS & FAMILY PLAN

WHEN FACING a breast cancer diagnosis, there’s strength in numbers. A new study finds that half of women relied on three or more people to help them process breast cancer treatment options.

“The big takeaway is that most women with early-stage breast cancer are involving multiple people – not just a spouse or partner – but other family, friends and colleagues to help them make informed decisions,” said

Dr Lauren P. Wallner, assistant professor of general medicine and epidemiology at the University of Michigan and lead author of the paper, published in the journal Cancer.

The size of a woman’s support network matters. “People faced with a new cancer diagnosis are still processing the information. They are often scared and overwhelmed. They are not able to grasp all the details. It’s helpful to have support, someone with them who can help weigh the pros and cons of what the doctor is saying and the different treatment options,” Wallner said.

Larger support networks were associated with more deliberation about treatment, which is critical as treatment options become more complex,

Wallner said. More deliberation suggests patients are thinking through pros and cons, discussing it with others and weighing the decision carefully.

The more people a woman has supporting her, the better her decisions are, Wallner said.

“When patients are diagnosed with cancer, there’s this rush to get through the treatment process.

But for patients with earlystage breast cancer, they have some time to decide on their

treatment choice,” Wallner said. “The idea that women are discussing their options more with their family and friends and potentially thinking through that decision more carefully is reassuring. Engaging these informal support networks could be a way to prevent women from rushing into something.”

The study found that only 10 per cent of women said they had no personal decision support network.