To Örebro University

Background: Cancer treatment of the elderly patients is an increasingly important concern since the risk for developing breast cancer increases with age. The effects of adjuvant chemotherapy on the breast cancer disease seem to be as good for pre and postmenopausal patients, at least for hormone receptor negative patients. However, very few patients older than 65 years are included in randomised studies. In clinical practice, it is common that elderly women are offered less chemotherapy, because of the unsubstantiated belief that they will experience a larger number and more severe adverse effects as well as poor functional outcomes and significant decrements in health related quality of life (HRQOL). The aim of this study was to follow HRQOL in postmenopausal women (55−80 years) with breast cancer receiving adjuvant treatment after surgery, until five years post-treatment, and compare with a general population.

Patients and Methods: The patient sample included 150 women (adjuvant CT n = 75 and RT n = 75) and two reference samples from the Swedish SF- 36 norm database.

Results: The results showed that at baseline the women in the patient sample experienced significantly higher levels of physical functioning and general health compared to the general population. They also experienced significantly less bodily pain, lower emotional role functioning and mental health. Five years after completion of treatment, the patient sample experienced better HRQOL than the reference sample in all domains, supporting our hypothesis that the impact on HRQOL would have been resolved over time for these patients. Conclusion: Postmenopausal women (55−80 years) seem to successfully manage the effects of adjuvant treatment on HRQOL.