Breast Cancer Survivorship, Quality of Life, and Late Toxicities

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most frequent cancer in women: in 2018, almost two million cases have been diagnosed all over the world and it represents the principal cause of death from a neoplastic disease in women. In the past years, breast cancer prognosis has significantly improved over time: currently 5-year survival rates are in the range of 90%, and 10-year survival is about 80%. This improvement has been mostly observed in western countries, due to high coverage and compliance with screening programs, leading to early diagnosis, i.e., when the disease is at a subclinical level, and to an improvement in tumor molecular characterization and innovative systemic treatments. Yet the identification of different biological breast cancer subtypes prompted the development of innovative targeted agents and improved treatment personalization. On the other hand, longer survival rates and increasing proportions of cured patients require dedicated strategies to manage long-term sequelae of breast cancer treatments, with particular attention to quality of life. This review analyzes the most important issues, potentially occurring with cancer treatments, concerning long-term sequelae and quality of life, to define a global approach to breast cancer survivorship.

Enhancing Self-Esteem and Body Image of Breast Cancer Women through Interventions: A Systematic Review

“…Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most common neoplasms in women, accounting for 16% of all female cancers and with over 1.2 million cases diagnosed each year worldwide [ 1 ], considered a global public health problem [ 2 , 3 ]. Due to improvements in diagnosis and treatment of the disease, BC has a survival rate of 90% in 5 years, and about 80% in 10 years, although survivors have faced multiple mental and physical health challenges [ 4 , 5 , 6 ]. Therefore, health professionals are concerned about the quality of life of female survivors, including physical, emotional, psychological, and social aspects related to trauma and adaptation to BC [ 7 , 8 , 9 ].…”

“…In addition to these impacts, and the consequence of them, these women must also start a completely different life adapting to other routines and activities. Therefore, it is necessary to promote intended actions to achieve an adequate adaptation to the changes that they will experience [ 5 ]. In this respect, it is essential to work on the self-esteem and BI of patients due to the negative impact of BC on BI and female self-esteem, as well as due to its importance in the process of the illness [ 19 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 ].…”

Impact of Rehabilitation on Breast Cancer Related Fatigue: A Pilot Study

“…Owing to the advances in the clinical management of this tumor, the number of long-term survivors has progressively increased during the past four decades (1). In this scenario, health-related quality of life has become more and more important in the overall patients' outcome evaluation (2)(3)(4)(5)(6).…”

Collagen Type X Alpha 1 (COL10A1) Contributes to Cell Proliferation, Migration, and Invasion by Targeting Prolyl 4-Hydroxylase Beta Polypeptide (P4HB) in Breast Cancer

“…Breast cancer is classified into 4 subtypes and obvious differences exist in therapeutics and prognosis for different breast cancer subtypes [ 5 ]. Identification of breast cancer subtypes prompted the development of novel targeted agents [ 6 ]. Furthermore, precision medicine for the therapy of breast cancer significantly improved the survival rate and quality of life of breast cancer patients.…”