Prevalence of symptomatic dry eye in breast cancer patients undergoing systemic adjuvant treatment: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objectives To investigate the prevalence of symptomatic dry eye (SDE) on women undergoing systemic adjuvant therapy for breast cancer and its association with treatment settings. Methods Woman undergoing breast cancer systemic adjuvant therapy were included in exposure group. An age-matched non-treatment control group was recruited. This cross-sectional questionnaire-based study utilised validated Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) and NCCN-FACT-Breast Cancer Symptom Index (NFBSI-16) questionnaires to determine the presence of SDE and investigate other breast cancer treatment complications. Additionally, demographic data and medical histories were collected. Results Of 423 eligible participants, 200 in each of the control group and the exposure group were included in the final analysis. The prevalence of SDE was 59.0% in breast cancer patients with adjuvant treatment, statistically significantly higher than 25.5% in the control group ( P < 0.01). Additionally, exposure group experienced higher prevalence of moderate and severe SDE, which were 20.0% and 19.5% respectively compared with 9.0% and 4.0% in the control group ( P = 0.002, P < 0.001). There was a significantly high prevalence of SDE among patients who had received over four cycles of systemic therapy (71.0%, P < 0.001) and the application of targeted therapy (71.2%, P = 0.014). The severity of SDE positively correlated with the cycles of treatment administered. Conclusion SDE was significantly predominant in women with breast cancer undergoing systemic adjuvant treatment. Our findings suggest dry eye assessments among patients receiving more than four cycles of chemotherapy or targeted therapy, thus early revealing possible dry eye conditions to both patients and clinicians for further specialized examination and treatment.

Sex Hormones Related Ocular Dryness in Breast Cancer Women

“…Although validated protocols are not yet available, administration of a subjective symptom questionnaire along with clinical evaluation of the ocular surface system is usually recommended among patients receiving more than four cycles of chemotherapy or targeted therapy [67]. Ocular surface findings in breast cancer patients are not particularly different from those of patients with evaporative dry eye, although those women suffer from severe itching along with ocular discomfort and inflammation, and usually show a severe mucus secretion, frequently leading to a mucus fishing syndrome (Figure 2).…”

Comparative Analysis of Paper-Based and Web-Based Versions of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network-Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast Cancer Symptom Index (NFBSI-16) Questionnaire in Breast Cancer Patients: Randomized Crossover Study (Preprint)

“…Screenshot of web-based version National Comprehensive Cancer Network-Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast Cancer Symptom Index (NFBSI- 16) an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Medical Informatics, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://medinform.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.…”

“…To assess treatment benefits, patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) provide unique perspectives on cancer symptoms from patients' experience, some of which can be neglected by clinicians and laboratory tests [11][12][13]. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network-Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast Cancer Symptom Index (NFBSI-16) PROMs were regulated on the foundation of the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT) measurement system to assess high-priority symptoms of breast cancer, emphasizing patients' input, which can be applied to help evaluate the effectiveness of treatments for breast cancer in clinical practice and research [14][15][16].…”

Treatment of contact lens related dry eye with intense pulsed light

“…The most prevalent form of dry eye disease (DED) is evaporative dry eye (EDE), [11,12] which primarily results due to meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) or hypofunction of the meibomian glands [13]. The International Workshop on MGD defines it as "a chronic, diffuse abnormality of the meibomian glands, commonly characterised by terminal duct obstruction and/or qualitative/quantitative changes in the glandular secretion" [14,15]. Meibomian glands are modified sebaceous glands that are situated within the upper, and lower eyelid and their ducts terminate along the margins of the eyelids and secrete meibum; which directly contributes to the lipid component of tears [16,17].…”