Postoperative sense of well-being and quality of life in breast cancer patients do not depend on type of primary surgery.
BACKGROUND
In primary breast cancer, breast conserving surgery and mastectomy are equal options with regard to patient survival. We therefore investigated whether and how the type of surgery has impact on the patients' quality of life (QoL) in order to support individualized surgical concepts in treatment of breast cancer. 3 types of surgery are compared: breast-conserving surgery; modified radical mastectomy with or without primary reconstruction.


METHODS
91 out of 114 consecutive patients diagnosed with histologically confirmed primary breast cancer agreed to answer the QoL questionnaires within the first 2 years of their follow-up care. 2 recognized questionnaires on sense of well-being and QoL were used: Multidimensional Mood Questionnaire and QoL SF-12.


RESULTS
No significant correlation between sense of well-being and type of operation or tumor stage was found. With regard to health-related QoL, we saw no significant correlation with type of surgery. However, low tumor stage was significantly correlated with better physical (p = 0.012) but not psychological well-being.


CONCLUSIONS
Within the first 2 years after primary surgery for breast cancer, we did not find significant differences in sense of well-being or QoL dependent on type of surgery.
Warm
Mathias
M
Department of Senology, University of Cologne, Germany. mathias.warm@uk-koeln.de
Gatermann
Caroline
C
Kates
Ronald
R
Mallmann
Peter
P
Paepke
Stefan
S
Harbeck
Nadia
N
Thomas
Anke
A
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008408:Mastectomy / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011184:Postoperative Period; D011788:Quality of Life; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome