Comparing quality of life in breast cancer patients who underwent mastectomy versus breast-conserving surgery: A meta-analysis

Abstract

The purpose of our study was to carry out a meta-analysis of current literature to determine whether total mastectomy and breast-conserving surgery induce different outcomes in quality of life, based on the breast-cancer-specific module of the European Organizaation for Research and Treatment of Cancer core questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-BR23) used postoperatively. A systematic literature search of PubMed and EMBASE was conducted. Observational clinical studies that compared the quality of life in different surgery groups and presented empirical findings were selected. Six studies met the inclusion criteria. Breast-conserving surgery has statistically significant better outcomes than mastectomy in three of the eight outcomes measured in the EORTC QLQ-BR23, namely body image (standard mean difference, SMD = 1.742, 95% CI 0.579–2.905, p = 0.003), future perspective (SMD = 0.606, 95% CI 0.075–1.138, p = 0.025) and systemic therapy side effects (SMD = −0.641, 95% CI 0.101–1.181, p = 0.020). Our study highlighted that breast-conserving surgery was preferred over mastectomy because breast-conserving surgery leads to better outcomes in body image, future perspectives and less systemic side effects.