title: A comparison of quality of life of early breast cancer patients treated with accelerated partial breast irradiation versus whole breast irradiation in China.
abstract: To compare quality of life (QoL) of early breast cancer patients treated with either accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) or whole breast irradiation (WBI) after breast-conserving therapy in China. The functional assessment of chronic illness therapy-Breast, traditional Chinese version 4 (FACT-B) instruments were given to 84 women (31 APBI and 53 WBI) who attended the radiotherapy clinic between July 2006 and May 2009 at Cancer Center of Sun Yat-sen University. Baseline characteristics and Karnofsky performance status scores were not different between the two groups. The median follow-up period in the APBI group was 29 versus 34 months in the WBI group. The APBI group scores in the physical domain, functional domain, social domain, and breast-specific concerns of FACT-B were 23.01 ± 3.91, 17.97 ± 4.99, 20.87 ± 4.80, and 22.55 ± 5.45, respectively, and were not significantly different from those of the WBI group (22.80 ± 3.50, 17.50 ± 4.40, 20.13 ± 5.31, 23.81 ± 4.65, respectively, P = 0.987, P = 0.476, P = 0.442, P = 0.330, respectively). However, the scores of the APBI group with respect to the emotional domains were lower compared to those of the WBI group (16.84 ± 3.86 vs. 19.47 ± 3.45, respectively, P = 0.002). Compared with women who underwent WBI, women treated with APBI were shown to have no significantly better QoL outcome, and yet had worse emotional response to their treatment.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in Southern China, Department of Radiation Oncology, Cancer Center of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhen-Yu
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.forename: San-Gang
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Feng-Yan
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Huan-Xin
authors.initials: HX
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Xun-Xing
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Guan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011788:Quality of Life; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors