Employment status and quality of life in recently diagnosed breast cancer survivors.

Background: Breast cancer survivors are less likely to be employed than similar healthy women, yet effects of employment on the well being of survivors are largely unknown. In a prospective cohort study of 2013 women diagnosed from 2006 to 2011 with invasive breast cancer in Kaiser Permanente Northern California, we describe associations between hours worked per week and change in employment with quality of life (QOL) from diagnosis through active treatment.

Methods: Participants completed information on employment status and QOL approximately 2 and 8 months post-diagnosis.

Change in physical activity during active treatment in a prospective study of breast cancer survivors.

Physical activity offers many benefits to breast cancer survivors, yet research on physical activity during the immediate period following a breast cancer diagnosis is limited. In a prospective cohort study of 1,696 women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Medical Care Program from 2006-2009, we describe change in self-reported physical activity levels from around diagnosis to 6 months post-diagnosis and determine factors associated with change. Participants completed a comprehensive physical activity questionnaire at baseline (2 months post-diagnosis) and at follow-up (8 months post-diagnosis).

Quality of life among women recently diagnosed with invasive breast cancer: the Pathways Study.

Few studies have assessed quality of life (QOL) of women diagnosed with breast cancer within the first few weeks of their initial diagnosis. We describe QOL among 950 women recently diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. Starting in January 2006, we invited women aged > or =21 years who were diagnosed with first primary invasive breast cancer within Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) to enroll in the Pathways Study, a prospective study of breast cancer survivorship.

Complementary and alternative therapy use before and after breast cancer diagnosis: the Pathways Study.

Many women use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) to maintain or improve their health. We describe CAM use among the first 1,000 participants enrolled in the Pathways Study, an ongoing prospective cohort study of women diagnosed with breast cancer (BC). Participants, identified by rapid case ascertainment in Kaiser Permanente Northern California, are women > or = 21 years diagnosed with first invasive BC.

The Pathways Study: a prospective study of breast cancer survivorship within Kaiser Permanente Northern California.

Objective: With 2.3 million breast cancer survivors in the US today, identification of modifiable factors associated with breast cancer recurrence and survival is increasingly important. Only recently new studies have been designed to examine the impact of lifestyle factors on prognosis, including Pathways, a prospective study of women with breast cancer in Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC).