Quality-of-Life Considerations in the Treatment of Early-Stage Breast Cancer in the Elderly

Breast cancer is a common tumour in the elderly population and management of early disease in particular is a major challenge for oncologists and geriatricians alike. An important aspect is a differentiated knowledge about the short-term effects and long-term perspectives regarding levels of functioning and subjective well-being associated with different treatment strategies. The article focuses on available quality-of-life (QOL) measurement instruments in elderly patients with early breast cancer and the impact of various local or systemic treatments on QOL scores.

A selective literature search was carried out in the PubMed database from January 2000 to May 2010 using the terms ‘early breast cancer’, ‘elderly’ and ‘quality of life’. Contributions to international congresses on breast cancer in 2009 were also included. Of the 80 articles retrieved, 46 publications were excluded from further consideration due to failure to fulfil inclusion criteria (e.g. not restricted to the elderly, inclusion of patients with metastatic disease, no adjuvant treatment). Sixteen papers focusing on complementary treatment were also rejected. The remaining 18 articles were extensively reviewed.

The selection of described QOL measurements was very heterogeneous in these 18 studies. Commonly used QOL instruments were the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QOL questionnaires (EORTC QLQ-C30, EORTC QLQ-BR23) and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy questionnaires (FACT-G, FACT-B) and its subscales. Additionally, the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (MOS-SF-36), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG) approach were used by various study groups. The general limitations of QOL assessment in the elderly population are discussed in the review.

Surgery, when considered from a technical point of view, does not differ significantly with patient age. Furthermore, age in itself should not be a contraindication to breast-conserving surgery (BCS) because QOL appears somewhat better after conservative surgical treatment. Avoiding axillary surgery and undergoing sentinel lymph node dissection in elderly patients are both associated with better short-term QOL. However, conventional axillary surgery has little effect on long-term QOL in older women.

The advent of innovative radiotherapy techniques has resulted in marked improvements in short-term tolerability together with reductions in the incidence and severity of late normal tissue damage. A potential alternative to conventional postoperative radiotherapy after BCS in the future is the intraoperative radiotherapy technique. Chemotherapy has considerable effects on QOL in breast cancer patients. Most studies found that overall QOL was maintained or improved in patients receiving either aromatase inhibitors or tamoxifen but patients reported different adverse effects. For the majority of older breast cancer survivors, cancer-specific well-being and general emotional health do not change substantially after a breast cancer diagnosis.

In summary, issues related to baseline co-morbidities in frail elderly, the adverse effects of novel chemotherapeutic agents (e.g. nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel) or target drugs (biologicals) and compliance in the elderly population should receive more attention in evaluations of QOL in elderly breast cancer patients. Future studies that include QOL measurements should also provide details on the data collection and quality control methodologies used.