ABSTRACT
CONTEXT: The disease and surgery of the breast not only evoke a fear of mutilation and loss of feminity but is also responsible for psychosocial, behavioral, and sexual problems. AIM: To analyze prospectively the time trends in "breast specific functional and symptom scale scores in female breast cancer survivors." SETTINGS AND DESIGN: The prospective study was conducted in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Tertiary Referral Hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 154 operated (mastectomy) female breast cancer patients who were referred to the Department of Radiation Oncology for chemoradiation ± target therapy (trastuzumab) ± hormonal therapy (tamoxifen) were included in the study. Seven patients were excluded from the final analysis due to their refusal to consent. The patients were assessed by using European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life-BR23 questionnaire module (which incorporates five multi-item and three single items scales) at 1st visit (0 month), 6, 12, and 24 months interval, respectively. RESULTS: The symptom scores and future perspectives scale showed improvement with time, but body image and sexual functioning and enjoyment scales showed the deteriorating trend. P < 0.05 was considered as significant. CONCLUSION: The female breast cancer survivors failed to improve their body image, sexual functioning, and sexual enjoyment scales but did well in other BR23 scales. Besides the family and spousal/marital support these patients got closer to their religion which has been seen to influence their psychosocial well-being optimistically and need further studies to establish the role of religious practices/beliefs.
Subject(s)
Body Image/psychology , Breast Neoplasms/physiopathology , Breast/physiopathology , Cancer Survivors/psychology , Adult , Aged , Breast/surgery , Breast Neoplasms/epidemiology , Breast Neoplasms/psychology , Breast Neoplasms/surgery , Depression/psychology , Female , Humans , Mastectomy/adverse effects , Mastectomy/psychology , Middle Aged , Quality of Life , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a rare malignancy in Kashmir with distinct pattern, hence we planned to study its clinicodemographic and survival profile. Kashmir has unique lifestyle and dietary habits which may be the source of carcinogenic compounds, most likely implicated in causation of NPC. A total of 148 patients of NPC registered from January 2000 to December 2014 were analyzed. The Mean ± SD age was 45.15 ± 17.092 years (range 11-85 years). The males were 72.3 % (N = 107) with male: female ratio of 2.61:1. Most of the patients were from rural area 81.90 % (N = 95) and non-smokers were 53.44 % (N = 62). Neck swelling was commonest presentation. WHO Type III NPC was commonest histopathological diagnosis 65.3 % (N = 92). Stage IV 36.1 % (N = 51) was commonest stage followed by stage III was 32 % (N = 46). Majority of the patients of NPC received CCRT 68.7 % (N = 78) followed by SCRT 13 % (N = 15) and Induction + CCRT 13 % (N = 15). The overall mean survival of NPC was 49.56 months. There was no significant correlation of age, gender, smoking, histopathology and treatment on the overall survival. However the stage was the only strong predictor of overall survival. Also the patients with intracranial extension had low survival which is turn depicts the advanced stage of disease. NPC survival is directly related to the stage of the disease irrespective of the treatment modality received. The negative EBV status in our patients implies that there are other risk factors involved in the causation of NPC for which further studies are needed to establish the etiological insult.
