--- title: Breast Cancer: Patients Don't Understand Their Condition, Study Says description: Many breast cancer patients don't know the details of their experience with the disease, according to a new study canonical: https://time.com/3682191/breast-cancer-patients-understanding/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-26T12:57:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:00:01.257Z article:section: Health og:title: Many Breast Cancer Patients Don't Understand Their Condition, Study Says og:description: The disparity is particularly pronounced for minority women og:url: https://time.com/3682191/breast-cancer-patients-understanding/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Many Breast Cancer Patients Don't Understand Their Condition, Study Says twitter:description: The disparity is particularly pronounced for minority women twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Many Breast Cancer Patients Don't Understand Their Condition, Study Says ## Video: Pink Light: Burlesque and Breast Cancer Survivors [Watch (HLS stream): Pink Light: Burlesque and Breast Cancer Survivors](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/rjTuOdIi.m3u8) (6:26)  _Published 2012-01-20. The New York School of Burlesque's Breast Cancer survivors perform the first annual Pink Light Burlesque show in an effort to raise awareness about the disease_  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jan 26, 2015 12:57 PM UTC  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jan 26, 2015 12:57 PM UTC Many breast cancer patients don’t understand the details of their disease, according to [a new study](http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/PressRelease/pressReleaseId-115362.html). While many believed they understood the grade, stage and type of tumor, only 20% to 58% identified those characteristics correctly. [The study, published Monday in the journal _Cancer_](http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/PressRelease/pressReleaseId-115362.html), found that minority women fared particularly poorly in identifying their tumor characteristics, a finding that remained true even as researchers controlled for factors like education. The lack of understanding about their own disease makes it difficult for patients to make informed medical decisions and to follow prescribed treatments, said study author and Harvard Medical School professor Rachel Freedman. “Our results illustrate the lack of understanding many patients have about their cancers and have identified a critical need for improved patient education and provider awareness of this issue,” Freedman said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3682191/breast-cancer-patients-understanding/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3682191/breast-cancer-patients-understanding/"},"headline":"Many Breast Cancer Patients Don't Understand Their Condition, Study Says","datePublished":"2015-01-26T12:57:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:00:01.257Z","description":"The disparity is particularly pronounced for minority women","url":"https://time.com/3682191/breast-cancer-patients-understanding/","keywords":["Cancer","Public Health","Breast Cancer","Healthcare","Research","treatment","patients"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/cancer/","name":"Cancer"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3682191/breast-cancer-patients-understanding/","name":"Many Breast Cancer Patients Don't Understand Their Condition, Study Says"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Pink Light: Burlesque and Breast Cancer Survivors","description":"The New York School of Burlesque's Breast Cancer survivors perform the first annual Pink Light Burlesque show in an effort to raise awareness about the disease","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/rjTuOdIi/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2012-01-20T14:30:01.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/rjTuOdIi.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3682191/breast-cancer-patients-understanding/","duration":"PT6M26S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3682191/breast-cancer-patients-understanding/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```