Most Breast Cancer Survivors Lead Quality Life Post-Treatment: Study

Breast cancer survivors say that they are more satisfied with their lives post-treatment, a latest Canadian study reveals.

Contradicting the common notion of poor quality of life after breast cancer treatment, the latest research shows that women have better quality of life a year after their treatment.

"It's been recognized for a long time that in the very short term breast cancer can adversely affect quality of life," senior author, Dr Pamela Goodwin of the University of Toronto, told Reuters Health. She explained that surgery, chemotherapy and radiation generally cause pain, nausea and fatigue, but they did not know how long these effects last.

For the study, the researchers surveyed breast cancer survivors and they were asked about their quality of life when they were diagnosed with breast cancer and soon after. The study observations showed that for women post-breast cancer, the quality of life improved an year after diagnosis. They also rated their cognitive functioning and financial situation somewhat lower than other women - by five and six percent, respectively, which is a small difference, Goodwin said.

"The majority of patients with early-stage breast cancer are long-term survivors with little impact on longevity," said Dr Patricia Ganz, director of cancer prevention and control research at the University of California, Los Angeles Fielding School of Public Health.

She said that that there are three million breast cancer survivors in the U.S. and more than five years past diagnosis they generally have a good quality of life.

"In general the average quality of life in our patients was pretty much the same as women without breast cancer. But I want to really emphasize that we're talking about averages. I don't ever want to discount the small group of women who may have ongoing symptoms such as pain, fatigue, swelling and severe body image issues," Goodwin said.