A comparison of quality of life and satisfaction of women with early-stage breast cancer treated with breast conserving therapy vs. mastectomy in southern China

The purpose of this study was to compare the quality of life (QoL) and overall satisfaction with treatment of women with stage T1-2N0M0 breast cancer treated with breast conserving therapy (BCT) or mastectomy (MAS) in southern China. Functional assessment of cancer therapy-breast, traditional Chinese version 4 (FACT-B), was administered to 180 patients with stage T1-2N0M0 breast cancer (82 BCT and 98 MAS) treated between July 2000 and July 2008. The two groups differed in tumor pathology and how axillary lymph nodes were treated (sentinel node biopsy vs. dissection), while other disease and socioeconomic characteristics were similar. The median follow-up after completion of radiotherapy was 60 months in the BCT group, and 65 months in the MAS group. The scores of the physical, functional, and emotional domains and breast-specific concerns of FACT-B were not significantly different between the groups. The social domain score of the BCT group was significantly greater than those of the MAS group. Patients who underwent BCT did not report better QoL than those who received MAS, but BCT patients experienced easier social adjustment.