A recent study by the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center at El Paso revealed that women in the city receive lumpectomies at a higher rate than the national average, but receive mastectomies at lower rates in early-stage breast cancer.

The rate of lumpectomies, the removal of tumorous tissue, was 71.7 percent in El Paso, compared to a national rate of lumpectomies of 60 percent.

The study used data from the Breast Cancer Database in collaboration with the University Medical Center Tumor Registry between January 2005 and October 2013.

Guilio Francia, UTEP assistant professor of biological sciences who is researching treatment for metastatic breast cancer, said the trend among physicians has been to prefer lumpectomies over mastectomies in the early stages of breast cancer.

According to the Texas Cancer Center, the popularity of lumpectomies rose after a lumpectomy trial that proved the procedure, plus radiation, could achieve survival rates equal to those of a mastectomy for patients in stages one or two of breast cancer.

“One of the major advances in breast cancer over the past two decades is that the majority of women in the U.S. with early stage breast cancer currently receive breast-conserving therapy (lumpectomy) followed by radiation…to mastectomy,” the Texas Tech study said.

Avery Durant, sophomore nursing major, is the daughter of a breast cancer survivor. Her mother chose to have a lumpectomy, plus radiation, over a mastectomy.

“Every case is different. It really goes down to what the person wants because they do run the risk,” Durant said. “They (physicians) do recommend that you get the mastectomy to avoid the chances of it coming back, but you don’t have to. My mom said that if it were to come back she would have a mastectomy.”

However, despite lumpectomies being the preferred standard of care for early stage breast cancer patients, barriers exist for minorities that prevent them from getting the procedure done.

“Socio-economic and ethnic barriers still exist that preclude women patients from receiving breast-conserving therapy,” the Texas Tech study said.

A separate 2004 study published in the journal of Ethnicity and Disease interviewed 379 breast cancer patients from the San Francisco Bay Area and revealed that breast-conserving surgery was associated with clinical, socio-economic and ethnic factors.

According to the study, a higher proportion of women who underwent breast-conserving surgery had a high school education, health education and higher income, compared to women who received mastectomies.

The study also found that Hispanic women who received mastectomies were more likely to be recent immigrants and to speak a primary language other than English.

Zeiha Nahleh, professor of medicine, biomedical chief and one of the authors of the Texas Tech study, said she believes the results of the study can be attributed to the cultural accommodations they provide to their El Paso patients.

“We make sure that our patients, regardless of race or ethnicity, receive high-quality care,” she said. “This might not be true in other facilities dealing with Hispanic patients. We have Spanish-speaking staff and we take our time explaining treatment planning at a culturally appropriate level when necessary. We are happy to see the results, that our patients are not disadvantaged.”

Maria Esquinca can be reached at the [email protected].