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Quality of Life in Breast Cancer Patients—Not Enough Attention for Long-Term Survivors?

Received April 27, 2000; revised September 7, 2000; accepted November 27, 2000. From the Departments of Biological Psychiatry, General Psychiatry, and Surgery at Innsbruck University Hospital, Innsbruck, Austria; and the Department of Psychiatry at General Hospital Brixen. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Holzner, Innsbruck University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Anichstr. 35, A–6020 Innsbruck, Austria.

In a study of breast cancer survivors, the authors used the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer core questionnaire + breast module (EORTC QLQ-C30/+BR23) and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy—Breast (FACT-B)for the assessment of quality of life (QoL). The main focus of this study was to look at the effect of time elapsed since initial treatment on the patients' QoL. Eighty-seven female patients (average age of 53.9±8.7 years) were included in the study. All women had received curative cancer therapy. The average time elapsed since start of initial treatment was 4.7±4.3 years. Reduced QoL, especially in the areas of emotional, social, and sexual functioning, was found not only after initial treatment (1–2 years) but also after long posttreatment survival (>5 years).From these findings, needs for specific psycho-oncological interventions are derived. The findings imply that besides recovering from the acute consequences of cancer therapy, long-term survivors of breast cancer (>5 years after initial treatment) still may have a special need for psycho-oncological support.

Key Words: Breast Cancer • Psychooncology

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