Breast cancer quality of life evaluation in Mexican Women at La Raza Hospital, Mexico City: A preliminary approach

Breast cancer (BC) is the second leading cause of death among Mexican women over 40 years of age. This study aimed to identify and examine the effects of cancer stage and surgical treatment on the quality of life (QOL) of Mexican women with early stage breast cancer (ESBC) treated with either modified radical mastectomy (MRM) or breast conservative surgery (BCS), plus adjuvant chemotherapy. The QLQ-C30 and QLQ BR-23 questionnaires were used to assess QOL. Sociodemographic characteristics and clinical factors of 102 women with early BC were also evaluated; analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed and a statistical significance of p < 0.05 was assumed. Most women were of reproductive age. Meaningful differences in QOL as a result of surgical treatment, in women receiving BCS compared with those receiving MRM, were limited to body image. We conclude that MRM and BCS are essentially equivalent choices in terms of QOL, with the exception of the impact on body image. In general, women who received BCS had a better perceived QOL.