Breast cancer: 93% of survivors report persistent health issues

Takeaway

• A Dutch cohort study finds that 93% of patients with early breast cancer (eBCa) report symptoms up to 5 years postdiagnosis.
• More than 50% report various health problems regarding the breast, and/or musculoskeletal, central nervous system (CNS), and reproductive system.

Why this matters

• Patients should be informed about long-term health problems years after treatment.
• Clinicians should perform better treatment planning.

Study design

• Cross-sectional cohort of 876 women with eBCa (2012-2016) who were contacted up to 5 years postdiagnosis in 20 Dutch hospitals; 404 responded electronically.
• Funding: None.

Key results

• Median age, 62.0 years.
• In addition to breast surgery, patients were treated with radiotherapy (72%), chemotherapy (49%), endocrine therapy (57%), and axillary dissection (21%).
• 93% of patients reported 1 or more health problems.
• >50% experienced fatigue, psychological problems, and health problems in the breast, and/or musculoskeletal, CNS, and reproductive system.
• Chemotherapy was associated (P<.05) with increased risk for fatigue (OR, 2.00; P=.020), respiratory (OR, 1.81; P=.029), gastrointestinal (OR, 1.87; P=.011), CNS (OR, 3.40; P<.001), and skin problems (OR, 2.62; P<.001).
• 64% of the respondents were using some type of healthcare for at least 1 of the problems, most commonly for fracture (78.6%) and gastric/abdominal complaints (51.0%).

Limitations

• Moderate response rate.
• Lack of control group.