Biopsychosocial implications related to the breast cancer in young women

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer that affects women. Its aggressiveness depends mainly on the patient’s age, on the tumor size and on the axillary lymph nodes status. The prognosis is the most unfavourable in the case of women under 35 years old, because they develop loco-regional and distant recurrenceof the disease earlier than the older patients. Moreover, they usually are diagnosed in advanced stages of the disease. Considering all these aspects, the purpose of our study is to identify and analyse the biological, psychological and socio-economic implications of breast cancer, in the case of the Romanian young women. In order to reach this objective, we have conducted an empirical research on 42 female patients with breast cancer, aged between 26 and 45 years, hospitalized and operated by the same surgical team, between 2010 and 2013. Our results demonstrate that the early detection of breast cancer has multiple benefits, not only from the medical point of view, but also from the psychological and socio-economic perspectives. We noticed that young women diagnosed with breast cancer in early stages have a reduced scale of surgery, which involves a shorter period of hospitalization and a lower cost of treatment, a better life prognosis and a satisfactory psychological comfort, resulting in rapid social and familial reintegration.