Doctor-patient communication is the main way in which women diagnosed with breast cancer learn about the risk of distant recurrence. However, little is known about how physicians approach these discussions. In the study cited above, some 33% women reported that doctors discussed the risk of recurrence, while 14% said they did not do so at all. More than half of the women reported that doctors used words and numbers to describe the risk, while 24% used only words. More than 60% said their doctor almost never asked about worries. Efforts are needed to improve doctors' ability to communicate about risk in an individualised way.
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0199183