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Quality of life of breast cancer patients and types of surgery for breast cancer — Current status and unresolved issues —

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An Erratum to this article was published on 01 April 2007

Abstract

Since standard radical mastectomy was established by Halsted for breast cancer, surgical procedures for breast cancer have been changed according to the results of randomized controlled trials. Breast-conserving treatment is now regarded as a standard local treatment for early breast cancer. More recently, sentinel node biopsy is becoming popular as an alternative procedure to axillary node dissection for nodal staging. These new procedures have been believed to be better in terms of patients’ quality of life in comparison with previous surgical procedures without impairing prognosis.

Many studies regarding the quality of life (QOL) of patients after such procedures have been reported. Here we review those data, especially of studies comparing quality of life of patients after mastectomy and breast-conserving treatment, and of those after axillary node dissection and sentinel node biopsy. Viewpoints and issues on surgical treatment-related QOL are discussed.

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Abbreviations

QOL:

quality of life

RCT:

randomized controlled trial

LES:

less extensive surgery

BCT:

breast-conserving treatment

SNB:

sentinel node biopsy

ALND:

axillary lymph node dissection

ROM:

Range of motion

BDI:

Beck Depression Inventory

BSI:

Breif Symptom Inventory

MAC:

Mental Adjustment to Cancer Scale

SF-36:

Short Form 36

STAI:

State-Trait Anxiety Inventory

FACT:

Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy scale

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Correspondence to Shozo Ohsumi.

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A correction to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02966587

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Ohsumi, S., Shimozumai, K., Kuroi, K. et al. Quality of life of breast cancer patients and types of surgery for breast cancer — Current status and unresolved issues —. Breast Cancer 14, 66–73 (2007). https://doi.org/10.2325/jbcs.14.66

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