After a diagnosis and surgery, women with breast cancer are told that they must undergo radiation to kill the remaining cancer cells.

But women are not being told the whole story. Radiation has not been shown to provide any survival benefit after a lumpectomy.

An article in The Lancet did report a slight reduction in cancer deaths with radiation after lumpectomy (13.2 percent) but deaths from all causes were 21.2 percent higher in the radiation treated group.

Most of those women died from heart disease, which may have been caused by radiation to the chest wall — particularly when the cancer occurred in the left breast overlaying the heart.

Yes, radiation has been shown to be effective at decreasing local recurrence of breast cancer. But — once again — local recurrence does not kill people; it is distal recurrence that kills.

Some studies have shown that radiation slightly decreases distant recurrence, but that benefit is negated by an overall mortality rate that is higher in women who choose radiation therapy.

Overall, there simply is not a survivability benefit with radiation therapy for breast cancer. And with the increase in overall mortality, I do not understand the wisdom of undergoing radiation after a lumpectomy.

If you or a loved one is offered radiation therapy for breast cancer, ask your doctor if the procedure will prolong life, not just prevent local recurrence.