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The impacts of breast conserving treatment and mastectomy on the quality of life in early-stage breast cancer patients

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Abstract

The quality of life (QOL) in 55 early-stage breast cancer patients after surgery was prospectively assessed using a newly developed Japanese QOL questionnaire: The QOL Questionnaire for Cancer Patients Treated with Anticancer Drugs (QOL-ACD). The impacts of breast conserving treatment (BCT) (22 cases) and modified radical mastectomy (MRM) (33 cases) on the QOL in those subjects were compared. The overall QOL scores were evaluated during four periods (before surgery, 0–2, 3–12, and 13–24 months after surgery). The mean scores of the four categories of the QOL-ACD (activity, physical condition, psychological condition, and social relationships) were also compared.

The results demonstrated that a significant improvement was observed in the overall QOL scores among the three periods after surgery (0–2, 3–12, and 13–24 months) only in the BCT group (P<0.05). There were no significant differences between the two groups in the overall QOL scores during any of the three periods after surgery, and the mean score of the ‘psychological condition’ during 0–2 months period in the BCT group was significantly lower than that in the MRM group (P< 0.05).

These results suggest that BCT does not always improve the patients’ QOL more than MRM does, and that the patients receiving BCT require more psychological support than those receiving MRM during the early postoperative period.

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Abbreviations

ADM:

Doxorubicin

BCT:

Breast conserving treatment

CPA:

Cyclophosphamide

5FU:

5-Fluorouracil

GHQ:

General Healrh Questionnaire

MRM:

Modified tadical mastectomy

POMS:

Profile of Mood States

PS:

Performance status

QOL:

Quality of life

QOL-ACD:

QOL Questionnaire for Cancer Patients Treated with Anticancer Drugs

TMD:

Total Mood Disturbance

UFT:

Tegafur uracil

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Endocrine Surgery, Kawasaki Medical School, 577 Marsushima, 701-01, Kurashiki, Japan

    Kojiro Shimozuma, Hiroshi Sonoo, Kazumasa Miyake, Junichi Kurebayashi, Kikuko Ota & Tokuhiko Kiyono

  2. Department of Clinical Pathology, Kawasaki Medical School, Japan

    Kiyoshi Ichihara

Authors
  1. Kojiro Shimozuma
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  2. Hiroshi Sonoo
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  3. Kiyoshi Ichihara
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  4. Kazumasa Miyake
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  5. Junichi Kurebayashi
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  6. Kikuko Ota
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  7. Tokuhiko Kiyono
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Shimozuma, K., Sonoo, H., Ichihara, K. et al. The impacts of breast conserving treatment and mastectomy on the quality of life in early-stage breast cancer patients. Breast Cancer 2, 35–43 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02966894

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02966894

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