Table 5: Comparison of 5-year utilization rates for various therapies in British Columbia with optimal utilization*
Stage; % of cases
Type of therapyAllIIIIIIIV
Radiotherapy
   BCCA data (within 5 yr)5961667952
   Ideal (Foroudi et al.24)6669829564
   Ideal (Delaney et al.25)8384849147
Chemotherapy†
   BCCA data (within 5 yr)34
(adjusted: 39)
16597249
   Ideal (Ng et al.26)59
(adjusted: 69)
56569029
Hormone therapy†
   BCCA data (within 5 yr)61
(adjusted: 68)
66707354
   Ideal (Fong et al.27)57
(adjusted: 67)
NRNRNRNR

Note: BCCA = BC Cancer Agency, NR = not reported.
*Optimal (ideal) rates of utilization are based on evidence-based estimates of needs. Details of how these estimates were obtained are outlined in the cited references.
†For chemotherapy and hormone therapy, the “all stages” rates were adjusted to account for exclusion of in situ cases; the parenthetical values are these adjusted rates, for invasive cancers only. In particular, Fong and associates27 assumed that hormone therapy is not indicated for in situ breast cancer.