Post-traumatic growth (PTG) has rarely been studied in long term breast cancer survivors using open interviews. In order to address the issue of how women integrate PTG in their overall cancer experience, 28 open interviews concerning changes after cancer were carried out with 5- to 15-year survivors. The analysis of results, performed using Alceste software, revealed one thematic class of PTG which was specific to women with high coping and social support and active cognitive processing. PTG theme appeared most often as a conclusion of interviews rather than in response to the question about changes after cancer.

Research concerning long-term breast cancer survivors (BCS) has primarily analysed their health-related quality of life (HRQoL). However, other dimensions of life considered important by patients might be affected by cancer treatments as well. The aim of this paper is thus to compare the clinical determinants of HRQoL and of overall quality of life as described by measures of subjective well-being (SWB) in long-term BCS. SWB represents a person's own evaluation of their overall situation. A total of 321 French BCS diagnosed 5 to 15 years ago participated in a cross-sectional mailed survey. Outcome measures were the physical and mental health scores of the 36-item Short-Form survey and measures of SWB (happiness, life satisfaction and the positive and negative affect scales). Multivariate regression analyses suggest that HRQoL and SWB measures provide different pictures of the experience of breast cancer. Treatment type has no impact on HRQoL but is correlated with all our SWB measures while time since diagnosis positively affects physical health but not SWB. We conclude that it could be fruitful to analyse SWB, alongside the traditional study of HRQoL, in order to enhance our understanding of the various long-lasting consequences of breast cancer.

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