A new review of a decade's worth of U.S. cancer statistics finds that women who got breast-conserving surgery and radiation to treat early-stage cancer were less likely to die from breast cancer during the next 10 years than those who had their breasts removed, Newsmax Health reports.

Researchers found that 94 percent of women who had lumpectomy and radiation between 1998 and 2008 had not died of breast cancer after 10 years, compared to about 90 percent of the women who had mastectomy, with or without radiation.

For the new study, the researchers used data on more than 130,000 U.S. women between the ages of 18 and 80 years old who were treated for early-stage breast cancer. That meant the tumor size was less than 4 centimeters.

 Overall, about 70 percent of the women underwent lumpectomy with radiation, about 27 percent had mastectomy and about 3 percent had mastectomy with radiation.

After five years, about 97 percent of women who had lumpectomy with radiation had not died of breast cancer. That compared to about 94 percent of women who had mastectomy and about 90 percent of women who had mastectomy and radiation.

After 10 years, about 94 percent of women who had lumpectomy with radiation had not died of breast cancer. That compared to about 90 percent of women who had mastectomy and about 83 percent of women who had mastectomy and radiation.

The researchers acknowledge in their report that they can't explain why people who have breast conservation therapy are less likely to die of breast cancer, compared to those who have their breasts removed.

Dr. Shelley Hwang, chief of breast surgery at Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina, emphasized that the findings only apply to people who have early-stage breast cancer without other complications.

Dr. Shailesh Agarwal, an associate professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery at the University of Utah School of Medicine in Salt Lake City, the study's lead author, said that it's also important for women to have frank discussions with their doctors about treatments.