Spiritual well-being is a recognized predictor of health-related quality of life in palliative patients. No research in Croatia has yet addressed this field. This study, the first of its kind in Croatia, validated a Croatian translation of the EORTC QLQ-SWB32 measure of spiritual well-being with curative Croatian oncology patients and assessed its use and value. The study was conducted between July 2019 and January 2020 at the Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology, University Hospital Rijeka, with 143 cancer patients, using the linguistically validated Croatian version of the measure. All patients found the measure acceptable. Confirmatory factor analysis aligned with the structure found in previous studies. Cronbach’s alpha confirmed internal consistency. Female participants scored higher on the RSG (Relationship with Someone or Something Greater), RG (Relationship with God), and EX (Existential) scales, and on Global-SWB. Patients with breast and gynecological tumors scored higher on RG. Older patients scored lower on RSG, RG and EX. Retirees and those with below-average incomes scored lower on EX. Participants who identified as having no religion scored lower on RSG. Stage I cancer patients scored higher on RG. The Croatian version of the EORTC QLQ-SWB32 is an acceptable, valid, and reliable measure of SWB for Croatian cancer patients.

Background: Following breast cancer treatment recommendations, the conservative approach is accepted and highly respected in the Clinical Hospital Center (CHC) Rijeka. However, we have found that institutional follow-up data are lacking. This retrospective analysis aims to update institutional data on survival and disease control rates. Methods: From 2011 till 2014, 915 breast cancer patients underwent surgery at CHC Rijeka, and 615 were included in this analysis. The Institutional Ethics Committee approved the analysis. Results: All patients were female, and the average age was 59 years. In the 5-year postoperative period, local, regional, and distant recurrence-free survival rates and overall survival and disease-free survival were calculated. All rates negatively correlate with a higher T and N status and a higher stage of the disease. The analysis has also demonstrated that in the pT1-3 pN0-1 subgroup, sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) was not inferior to axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) in terms of locoregional control of disease and overall survival. Conclusion: Besides updating institutional data, the analysis confirmed that overall survival and locoregional control of the disease in the upfront-surgery patients are similar between pN0 and pN1 subpopulations and between pN2 and pN3, but statistically significantly different between pN0-1 and pN2-3. Currently ongoing, prospective observational multicenter clinical trial aims to translate the significance of these results into the neoadjuvant era.

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