Patient preferences concerning the trade-off between the risks and benefits of routine radiation therapy after conservative surgery for early-stage breast cancer.
OBJECTIVE
To assess patients' preferences regarding the trade-off between risks and benefits of radiation therapy after conservative surgery for early-stage breast cancer.


METHODS
Utilities (measures of preference) of 97 early-stage breast cancer patients treated with conservative surgery and radiation therapy and 20 medical oncology nurses were assessed for five health states using standard gambles.


RESULTS
Patients had the highest mean utility for treatment with conservative surgery and radiation therapy without a local recurrence (0.92), intermediate utilities for treatment with conservative surgery alone followed either by no local recurrence or by a local recurrence salvaged by conservative surgery and radiation therapy (0.88 and 0.87, respectively), and the lowest utilities for treatment with or without radiation therapy followed by a local recurrence salvaged by mastectomy and reconstructive surgery (0.82 and 0.81, respectively). All differences between health states' utilities were significant (P < .0001), except between the two intermediate and two lowest rated health states. None of the clinical or sociodemographic factors examined explained more than 5% of the variability in the patients' utilities or their differences. Nurses' utilities were similar to those of the patients.


CONCLUSIONS
These results strongly suggest that fear of a local recurrence and an actual local recurrence leading to mastectomy have such a negative impact on quality of life that patients are willing to accept the risks and inconvenience of radiation therapy to avoid them. There is also considerable interpatient variability that was not explained by the clinical or sociodemographic factors examined.
Hayman
J A
JA
Center for Outcomes and Policy Research, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. hayman@umich.edu
Fairclough
D L
DL
Harris
J R
JR
Weeks
J C
JC
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008408:Mastectomy / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D016879:Salvage Therapy / Q000523:psychology