Symptoms Common After Breast Cancer Treatment

Women who have completed treatment for breast cancer may seem to be out of the woods, but new research suggests that a broad range of physical symptoms persists in women making the transition from cancer patient to cancer survivor.

In a new study, women who had just completed treatment seemed to be in good emotional shape, but they reported a wide variety of physical symptoms, including hot flashes and aches and pains. Steps to address common post-treatment symptoms should be considered, according to the study’s authors. Plenty of research has examined the psychological and social impact of breast cancer, but it has mostly focused on newly diagnosed women or on survivors, who completed treatment in the past. There is much less information on the experience of women who have just completed treatment. Now, a team led by Dr. Patricia A. Ganz at the University of California at Los Angeles Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has taken a closer look at this group of women. The study involved 558 women who had just completed treatment for breast cancer. The women had undergone mastectomy or lumpectomy either with or without chemotherapy. Despite having a serious illness and undergoing sometimes prolonged treatment, the women in the study reported a normal level of mental health, Ganz’s team found. In terms of mental health, there were no significant differences among the four treatment groups. But women who had just completed cancer treatment did report a wide range of physical symptoms, including hot flashes, night sweats, aches and pains and vaginal dryness. Women who had had a mastectomy tended to report more physical problems than women who had had a lumpectomy. After treatment for cancer, women also reported sexual problems, such as painful intercourse and insufficient lubrication. Women who had undergone chemotherapy were more likely than women who had surgery alone to report sexual problems. The findings appear in Wednesday’s issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Ganz and her colleagues point out that physicians prepare women for the side effects that they may experience during treatment, such as nausea, vomiting, hair loss and fatigue. But doctors have had little information with which to guide patients through the post-treatment period, the authors note. “From this study, we now have an accurate description of how women are functioning at the end of primary treatment,” the authors write. The authors plan to continue following these women, who are enrolled in a study that compares two behavioral interventions designed to help women in the transition from treatment to recovery. (Source: Journal of the National Cancer Institute: Reuters Health: March 2004: Medline Plus)