Breast cancer treatment of women with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder from Philadelphia, PA: Lessons learned and suggestions for improvement

Treating cancer in patients with concurrent severe mental illness is complex and challenging for patients, families, and health care providers. Two such illnesses include schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. In this review, cases of women with breast cancer and severe mental illness from Philadelphia, PA illustrate the obstacles these women face in maintaining adequate cancer care. Barriers to receiving cancer treatment include understanding their disease, continuing medications and appointments, and experiencing complications of their psychiatric disorders. Learning from these cases is critical for health care providers and allows for innovation in treating and educating this difficult population. Increasing patient visit time, using social support services, and psychiatrist and psychiatrist-liaisons are necessary to improve care. In addition, family or caregivers should be included in discussions when possible. These techniques will assist in educating patients, improve insight into their disease and treatment, and allow them to benefit from cancer therapy.