In Breast Cancer, The Quality Of Life For Younger Patients More Adversely Affected Than For Older Women

Quality of life in younger patients treated for breast cancer is seriously compromised and these women suffer from severe psychological distress, infertility, premature menopause, a decrease in physical activity and weight gain, according to a study by researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The study, published in the peer-reviewed Journal of the National Cancer Institute, found that the mental issues faced by younger breast cancer survivors were more serious than the physical impacts compared to a general age-matched population of women who didn't have cancer and those more than 50 years old who did.

The study points to the need for oncologists to let these younger patients know from the beginning of their therapy what may happen to them after it's finished, said study lead author Dr. Patricia Ganz, director of cancer prevention and control research at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

"We know that educating and providing younger breast cancer patients with information about what they might experience once their treatment ends is very helpful," said Ganz, who has been conducting research on quality of life after cancer treatment for 25 years. "If they know what to expect, their anxiety level will be greatly reduced. Up to now, oncologists have not done a good job of preparing these women for what will come."

Reducing anxiety is crucial, Ganz said, as pre-clinical studies have shown that stress can promote cancer growth and spread in animal models. A study by Jonsson Cancer Center researchers published in 2010 in Cancer Research showed that chronic stress acted as a sort of fertilizer that fed breast cancer progression, significantly accelerating the spread of disease.

The need to prepare younger breast cancer survivors for any adverse effects they may experience and seek ways to address those problems is vital as more and more younger women are surviving their cancer diagnosis due to improvements in early detection and treatment, Ganz said.

Primary breast cancer refers to breast cancer which is confined to the breast and/or the surrounding area (for example the lymph nodes under the arms). However, breast cancer is not just one single disease. There are several types of breast cancer, all of which can be detected at different stages of development and grow at different rates.

Breast cancer that has the potential to spread to other areas of the body is described as invasive breast cancer. This does not mean the cancer has spread to another part of the body but that it has the potential to spread. Treatments are therefore designed to reduce the risk of this happening.

Sometimes a new primary breast cancer can develop, either in the same breast after breast conserving surgery or, more commonly, in the opposite breast.

People who have breast cancer in one breast are at slightly higher risk of developing a new primary breast cancer on the other side. This would be treated as a new cancer and is not recurrence.