title: Cosmetic Outcomes and Quality of Life in Thai Women Post Breast Conserving Therapy for Breast Cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the correlation between cosmetic outcome (CO), body image, and quality of life in post breast-conserving therapy (BCT) women.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study concerned one-year post-completed BCT Thai women. The data included subjective and objective CO with a questionnaire covering demographic and clinical data, anti-hormonal treatment status, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status, Self-Reported Cosmetic Outcomes (SRCO), Self-Reported Breast Symmetry (SRBS), Body Image Scale (BIS), and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy with Breast Cancer subscale (FACT-B). Participants had breast photographs taken for the evaluation of objective cosmetic outcome (OCO) after breast cancer conservation treatment. The relationship between CO and FACT-B was tested using Spearman's rank correlation Results: A total 127 participants volunteered for the study. The participant characteristics were age 52(±9), Buddhist 87%, married 65%, body mass index 25.0(±4.6), breast cup size A-C 91%, college educated 60%, employed 66%, ECOG 0-1 95%, tumor size less than or equal to 2 cm 55%, no lymph node metastasis 98%, and taking tamoxifen 57%. Two percent of the participants regretted their decision to undergo BCT. The SRCO was excellent in 2%, good in 68%, fair in 30%, and poor in 0%. For SRBS, rates were 17%, 58%, 24% and 1% for excellent, good, fair and poor cosmetic outcomes, respectively. The BCCT scores were excellent 24%, good 39%, fair 32%, and poor 6%. The median total QOL score of the participants was 130 (93-144). There was no significant correlation between CO and FACT-B scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The significance of CO for FACT-B in Thai women with breast cancer could not be assessed in detail because of a very low level of correlation. The results may be due to the effects of cultural background.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, Songkhla, Thailand E-mail : pthanarpan@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Peerawong
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Thanarpan
authors.forename: Mahattanobon
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Somrit
authors.forename: Jiratrachu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rungarun
authors.forename: Rordlamool
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Paytai
authors.forename: Sangtawan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Duangjai
authors.forename: Kongkamol
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chanon
authors.forename: Puttawibul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Puttisak
mesh_terms: D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology / Q000601:surgery*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004954:Esthetics; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015412:Mastectomy, Segmental; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013785:Thailand