The Effects of Surgery Type and Chemotherapy on Early-Stage Breast Cancer Patients' Quality of Life Over 2-Year Follow-up

Background. We examined the effects of surgery type and adjuvant chemotherapy on change in early-stage breast cancer patients' quality of life (QOL) over time. Methods. A cohort of 549 patients (33.5 % ductal carcinoma in situ, 66.5 % stages I/IIA) were interviewed a mean 6.1 weeks (Time1), and 6.2 (Time2), 12.3 (Time3), and 24.4 (Time4) months following definitive breast-conserving surgery (BCS) or mastectomy. QOL was measured using the total Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (FACT-B). Adjusting for demographic, psychosocial, and clinical variables, multiple linear regression models estimated the associations between QOL and each of surgery type, chemotherapy, and their 2-way interaction at each interview. Adjusted generalized estimating equation (GEE) models tested Time1-Time4 change in QOL. Results. At Time2, chemotherapy (P < .001) and BCS (P < .001) were independently associated with worse QOL in adjusted linear regression, and the adverse effect of chemotherapy was prominent among patients who received BCS compared with those who received mastectomy (P-interaction = .031). In the GEE model, QOL significantly improved over time among patients who received BCS (P-trend = .047), mastectomy (P-trend = .024), and chemotherapy (P-trend < .001), but not among patients who did not receive chemotherapy (P-trend = .720). All patients completed adjuvant chemotherapy and radiation by Time3. Regardless of surgery type, patients receiving chemotherapy reported lower QOL following surgery, and QOL improved after completion of adjuvant treatment. Conclusions. Chemotherapy had a short-term negative impact on QOL after definitive surgical treatment regardless of surgery type. QOL rebounded after completion of adjuvant treatment.