Revista Global de Enfermagem e Estudos Forenses

Abstrato

Quality of life of in the patients with breast cancer

Mirjana Marinkovic  

Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumor in women around the world and it makes up over 20% of all malignancies in the female population. Following the diagnosis and depending on the histopathological finding, radical mastectomy or sparing breast surgery is performed, with the goal of removing cancer tissue and preventing further spread of the disease. In addition to achieving local disease control, the imperative of sparing surgery is to achieve a good cosmetic result and improve the quality of life of a patient with breast cancer.

The focus of this research is the health-related quality of life (QOL) of sparing surgeries patients in relation to patients who underwent radical mastectomy.

Sixty women were interviewed approximately 3 months after breast cancer surgery, during their postoperative trimester checkup. The questionnaire that was used was standardized for this study. It reflected the quality of life in 4 aspects: emotional status, physical functioning, sexual functioning and social functioning.

Compared to radical mastectomy patients, sparing surgery patients have shown better 3-month emotional, physical, sexual and social health scores.

According to the results of the study, it can be suggested that during the planning of surgical oncology treatment, special attention should be paid to specific differences in QoL of women who are subjected to mastectomy or sparing surgery, with the exclusion of other variables that may have a confounding effect.