Life events and breast cancer prognosis
Life events and breast cancer prognosis
The research project described in this thesis was designed to determine whether psychosocial stress in the form of severe life events and social difficulties, depressive illness or lack of confiding relationships, is associated with shortening of the postoperative disease-free interval in women with breast cancer.
Prospective interview follow-up of a cohort of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients was carried out by means of a life events and social difficulties schedule (LEDS) and assessment of depressive symptomatology (DSM-111). Patients were recruited from breast clinics in Southampton and Portsmouth, and interviewed in their own homes four, 24 and 42 months after primary surgical treatment, which comprised either mastectomy, or wide excision followed by radiotherapy.
Axillary lymph node involvement had a strong association with relapse, as found in numerous other studies. After adjustment for axillary lymph node involvement and for age, the hazard ratio associated with severe life events and/or social difficulties (excluding those involving patients' own health) during the year before breast cancer surgery was 0.43 (95% confidence interval 0.20 to 0.93); for those during the follow-up period it was 0.88 (0.48 to 1.64). For prolonged major depression before surgery and during the follow-up period, hazard ratios were 1.26 (0.49 to 3.26) and 0.85 (0.41 to 1.79) respectively. For absence of a full confidant the figures were 0.93 (0.42 to 2.09) and 0.86 (0.38 to 1.93).
These results give no support to the widely-held belief that psychosocial stress contributes to relapse of breast cancer, at least in the first few years after primary treatment. A case-note follow-up of the patients at five years after diagnosis has subsequently been carried out, and confirms the same trends found in the original study.
University of Southampton
Barraclough, Jennifer
bdaaebb7-cce3-4fff-9479-4ba592ee3e39
1994
Barraclough, Jennifer
bdaaebb7-cce3-4fff-9479-4ba592ee3e39
Barraclough, Jennifer
(1994)
Life events and breast cancer prognosis.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
The research project described in this thesis was designed to determine whether psychosocial stress in the form of severe life events and social difficulties, depressive illness or lack of confiding relationships, is associated with shortening of the postoperative disease-free interval in women with breast cancer.
Prospective interview follow-up of a cohort of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients was carried out by means of a life events and social difficulties schedule (LEDS) and assessment of depressive symptomatology (DSM-111). Patients were recruited from breast clinics in Southampton and Portsmouth, and interviewed in their own homes four, 24 and 42 months after primary surgical treatment, which comprised either mastectomy, or wide excision followed by radiotherapy.
Axillary lymph node involvement had a strong association with relapse, as found in numerous other studies. After adjustment for axillary lymph node involvement and for age, the hazard ratio associated with severe life events and/or social difficulties (excluding those involving patients' own health) during the year before breast cancer surgery was 0.43 (95% confidence interval 0.20 to 0.93); for those during the follow-up period it was 0.88 (0.48 to 1.64). For prolonged major depression before surgery and during the follow-up period, hazard ratios were 1.26 (0.49 to 3.26) and 0.85 (0.41 to 1.79) respectively. For absence of a full confidant the figures were 0.93 (0.42 to 2.09) and 0.86 (0.38 to 1.93).
These results give no support to the widely-held belief that psychosocial stress contributes to relapse of breast cancer, at least in the first few years after primary treatment. A case-note follow-up of the patients at five years after diagnosis has subsequently been carried out, and confirms the same trends found in the original study.
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Published date: 1994
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Local EPrints ID: 462593
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/462593
PURE UUID: 7a9a8842-cedd-4a32-ae87-6b6aa9bb1c96
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Date deposited: 04 Jul 2022 19:28
Last modified: 23 Jul 2022 01:08
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Author:
Jennifer Barraclough
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