Quality of Life of Patients After Immediate or Delayed Autologous Breast Reconstruction: A Multicenter Study.

INTRODUCTION: It is known that breast reconstruction improves quality of life (QoL) in women who underwent mastectomy. Previous studies showed that autologous immediate breast reconstruction is as safe as delayed breast reconstruction. However, there is not much known about the influence of the timing of the breast reconstruction on QoL. Therefore, this study aims to assess the effect of timing of the breast reconstruction on QoL, using the BREAST-Q questionnaire. METHODS: A total of 543 patients aged 18 years or older who underwent deep inferior epigastric perforator flap reconstruction after mastectomy (for prophylactic or oncological reasons) at least 12 months ago were selected in 3 hospitals in the Netherlands and invited to complete the BREAST-Q. Mean QoL outcomes were compared between patients who underwent immediate or delayed breast reconstruction. Furthermore, QoL outcomes were compared with recently published normative data of the BREAST-Q. RESULTS: Patients who underwent immediate reconstruction reported higher scores on satisfaction with psychosocial well-being, sexual well-being, physical well-being of the chest, and physical well-being of the abdomen. Patients who underwent delayed reconstruction reported higher scores on satisfaction with breasts, outcome, and nipples. However, after adjusting for potentially influencing factors, none of the differences were significant. Compared with the normative BREAST-Q data, both of our patient groups reported higher scores on satisfaction with breasts, psychological well-being, and sexual well-being, whereas they reported lower scores on satisfaction with physical well-being of the chest and the abdomen. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that patients who underwent immediate or delayed deep inferior epigastric perforator flap breast reconstruction have comparable QoL more than 1 year after surgery, irrespective of the timing of the breast reconstruction.

Lymphatico-venous anastomosis as treatment for breast cancer-related lymphedema: a prospective study on quality of life.

PURPOSE: Lymphedema is a chronic and disabling sequel of breast cancer treatment that can be treated by lymphatico-venous anastomosis (LVA). Artificial connections between the venous and lymphatic system are performed supermicrosurgically. This prospective study analyses the effect of LVA on quality of life. METHODS: A prospective study was performed between November 2015 and July 2016 on consecutive patients in the Maastricht University Medical Centre. Quality of life was considered as the primary outcome, and the Lymphedema International Classification of Functioning (Lymph-ICF) questionnaire was used. Discontinuation of compressive stockings and arm volume, using the Upper Extremity Lymphedema index (UEL-index), were the secondary outcomes. RESULTS: Twenty women with early-stage breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) were included. The mean age was 55.9 ± 4 years and the median BMI was 25.1 [21-30] kg/m2. The mean follow-up was 7.8 ± 1.5 months. Statistically significant improvement in quality of life was achieved in the total score and for all the quality of life domains after one year of follow-up (p < 0.05). The discontinuation rate in compressive stockings use was 85%. The difference in mean relative volume did not show a statistically significant decrease. CONCLUSIONS: LVA for early-stage BCRL resulted in a significant improvement in quality of life and a high rate in stocking discontinuation.

Reliability of Self-reported Treatment Data by Patients With Breast Cancer Compared With Medical Record Data.

OBJECTIVES: Medical records are considered the gold standard for accurate treatment information. However, treatment data are increasingly obtained from questionnaires. It can be questioned whether self-reported treatment data are reliable, particularly because patients have to process a lot of information during their diagnosis and treatment process. The present study assesses the reliability of self-reported treatment data compared with medical records. METHODS: All patients with stage I, II, and III breast cancer (n = 606) in 5 hospitals in the west of the Netherlands were invited to complete a questionnaire 9 to 18 months after surgery. We calculated kappa statistics, proportion correct, sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values to assess agreement. RESULTS: Three hundred fifty patients completed the questionnaire (58%). Agreement was good for type of surgery and receiving chemotherapy, endocrine therapy, and radiation therapy, with sensitivity and specificity of 95% or higher and kappa above 0.90. However, only moderate agreement was seen for sentinel node biopsy, including the pathologic results and axillary lymph node dissection (kappa between 0.60 and 0.80). Lack of agreement was more often found for patients who had received endocrine therapy (odds ratio, 1.85; 95% confidence interval, 1.11-3.10) but not influenced by age (odds ratio, 1.00; 95% confidence interval, 0.98-1.02). CONCLUSION: Accuracy of self-reported data is high for type of surgery, chemotherapy, endocrine therapy, and radiation therapy, but much lower for sentinel node biopsy including the pathologic results and axillary lymph node dissection. This is relevant for clinicians given the time spent explaining these procedures, and for researchers to help decide what information to obtain from patients or medical records.

Quality of Life Questionnaires in Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema Patients: Review of the Literature.

PURPOSE: Lymphedema of the arm is one of the most common and underestimated side effects of breast cancer treatment. It is known to negatively affect the quality of life (QoL) in breast cancer survivors. However, there are multiple questionnaires used to measure QoL in lymphedema patients. The current study aimed to determine the most complete and accurate questionnaire. METHODS: A systematic literature search in Cochrane Library database CENTRAL, MEDLINE, and EMBASE was conducted in August 2016 by two independent researchers. The strategy used for the search was: (("Lymphedema"[Mesh]) AND ("Quality of life"[Mesh])). All QoL questionnaires for patients with breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) were included. An overview of the assessed QoL domains and arm symptom-specific questions was made, to assess the most complete and accurate questionnaire. RESULTS: A total of 142 studies were identified, of which 49 met the inclusion criteria and 15 different questionnaires were extracted. The Lymphedema Quality of Life Inventory (LyQLI), assesses all QoL domains, except for the possibility of wearing the clothes of choice, and assess all specific arm symptoms. The Lymphedema Functioning, Disability, and Health (Lymph-ICF) Questionnaire assesses all QoL domains, except for sexual functioning, and does assess all specific arm symptoms. CONCLUSION: According to the results obtained, the LyQLI and Lymph-ICF questionnaires were the two most complete and accurate questionnaires to assess QoL in patients with BCRL, because these questionnaires assess the largest number of QoL domains and specific arm symptoms.

Importance of patient reported outcome measures versus clinical outcomes for breast cancer patients evaluation on quality of care.

INTRODUCTION: Given increasing numbers of breast cancer survivors, there is an increased focus on quality of life and quality of care. This study aims to investigate whether clinical or patient reported outcomes are most important for perceived quality of care by breast cancer patients. METHODS: Overall, 606 patients aged 18 years or older, who underwent breast cancer surgery 9-18 months ago in five hospitals in the Netherlands, were invited to complete an internet-based questionnaire. Patients were asked to judge a random selection of 24 patient profiles and choose which of 2 presented patients had received the best quality of care, using conjoint analysis. The individual relative importance (RI) for each outcome was estimated using Hierarchical Bayes Estimation, and averaged over all patients to assess which outcomes were most important. RESULTS: Complete data were available for 350 patients (58%). Avoiding severe breast symptoms was most important for good quality of care according to patients (RI 23.22 [95% Confidence Interval (95% CI) 22.32-24.12]), followed by a 2 year longer disease free survival (18.30 [17.38-19.22]). However, the importance differed by age: younger patients (<50 years) assigned higher importance to longer disease free survival (21.99 [19.52-24.46]) than older patients (65 + years) (15.03 [13.88-16.18]). CONCLUSION: Avoiding severe breast symptoms rather than 2 year longer disease free survival is considered most important in our population of breast cancer patients for evaluation of quality of care. These data should thus be included in both information provision prior to treatment choices and post treatment quality of care evaluation.