Quality of life after autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation and high-dose chemotherapy in high-risk breast cancer patients

Abstract

Background: As long-term survivors of breast cancer after autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (ASCT) are becoming more numerous, studies addressing the issue of long-term follow-up are necessary. In this study, we report on the quality of life (QOL) after ASCT and high-dose chemotherapy (HDCT). Patients and Methods: The QOL questionnaire version 3.0 by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC QLQ-C30 version 3.0) was filled in by patients and healthy controls at 5 time points. After ob-taining the results, we analyzed the correlation between QOL and the effect factors. Results: Some functions got significantly worse, and some symptoms got more serious after ASCT and HDCT. However, most of them improved with time and were comparable to the healthy controls after 5 years. QOL was in part related to age, tumor characteristics, educational level, marriage status, and income. Conclusions: Evaluating QOL allows medical workers to fully understand a patient's state of health, and aid the estimation and selection of clinical treatment methods as well as improve recovery. © 2009 S. Karger GmbH, Freiburg.