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Quality of Life for Women Diagnosed With Breast Carcinoma in Situ

Elizabeth B. Claus, Stacey Petruzella, Darryl Carter, Stanislav Kasl

From the Departments of Epidemiology, and Public Health, and Pathology; Yale Comprehensive Cancer Center; Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT; and the Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA

Address reprint requests to Elizabeth B. Claus, MD, PhD, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine, 60 College St, PO Box 208034, New Haven, CT 06520-8034; e-mail: elizabeth.claus{at}yale.edu

PURPOSE: Limited data exist on long-term quality of life (QOL) for women diagnosed with breast carcinoma in situ (BCIS).

PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: The data are on 795 BCIS participants diagnosed among female residents of Connecticut from September 15, 1994 to March 14, 1998, and 702 controls frequency-matched to the case participants by 5-year age intervals and geography. These women were participants in a large, population-based case/control study and subsequent follow-up study. Telephone interviews at follow-up were used to collect data on QOL at 5 years from initial diagnosis or contact, using the Medical Outcomes Study, Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression, and CAGE (Cut down, Annoyed, Guilty, Eye-opener) alcohol consumption scales. QOL outcomes were compared by case/control status and by case treatment group: lumpectomy, lumpectomy with adjuvant radiation therapy, and mastectomy.

RESULTS: At 5 years after diagnosis, women diagnosed with BCIS report levels of physical, emotional, and mental health functioning similar with those reported in a general healthy female population. Case participants and controls did not differ in reported levels of limitations due to physical health problems, bodily pain, social functioning, or overall physical functioning. Case participants who underwent lumpectomy with radiation reported lower levels of emotional functioning, general health perceptions, vitality, sexual interest, and overall mental health, as well as more depressive symptoms than did control subjects; although, the clinical significance of these statistical differences appears to be limited.

CONCLUSION: At 5 years after treatment, women diagnosed with BCIS report good physical and emotional functioning relative to control populations.

Supported by the US Army Medical Research and Material Command under Grant No. DAMD-17-95-1-5006 and by National Institutes of Health Grant No. R01-CA81393.

Authors' disclosures of potential conflicts of interest and author contributions are found at the end of this article.