Health utility values of breast cancer treatments and the impact of varying quality of life assumptions on cost-effectiveness.

In breast cancer research, utility assumptions are outdated and inconsistent which may affect the results of quality adjusted life year (QALY) calculations and thereby cost-effectiveness analyses (CEAs). Four hundred sixty four female patients with breast cancer treated at Erasmus MC, the Netherlands, completed EQ-5D-5L questionnaires from diagnosis throughout their treatment. Average utilities were calculated stratified by age and treatment.

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) after different axillary treatments in women with breast cancer: a 1-year longitudinal cohort study.

Purpose: As life expectancy continues to rise, post-treatment health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of breast cancer patients becomes increasingly important. This study examined the one-year longitudinal relation between axillary treatments and physical, psychosocial, and sexual wellbeing and arm symptoms.

Methods: Women diagnosed with breast cancer who received different axillary treatments being axilla preserving surgery (APS) with or without axillary radiotherapy or full axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) with or without axillary radiotherapy were included.

What affects women's decision-making on breast reconstruction after mastectomy for breast cancer?

Purpose: To establish the breast reconstruction rate in a large Dutch teaching hospital, and to gain insight into the motives of women to opt for or reject post-mastectomy breast reconstruction.

Methods: In a retrospective, cross-sectional study, all consecutive patients who underwent mastectomy for invasive breast cancer or ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) were identified and categorized into two groups based on subsequent breast reconstruction or not. Patient-reported outcomes were assessed with the validated Breast-Q and a short survey about the decision-making process in breast reconstruction.

Bilateral prophylactic mastectomy: should we preserve the pectoral fascia? Protocol of a Dutch double blinded, prospective, randomised controlled pilot study with a within-subject design (PROFAS).

Introduction: Bilateral prophylactic mastectomy (BPM) in women with a high risk of developing breast cancer has shown to provide the greatest risk reduction. Many surgical guidelines recommend the removal of the pectoral fascia (PF) in mastectomies; however, there is no evidence to support this statement. Reported wound-related complications following mastectomy include seroma, flap necrosis, infection and haematoma.

Sexual well-being in patients with early-stage breast cancer at 1- and 2-year follow-up.

Background: Sexual well-being (SWB) is an important aspect of overall quality of life and should therefore be considered when measuring the effect of breast cancer on daily life.

Aim: To identify positive and negative predictive factors associated with change in SWB 1 year after diagnosis (T12; hereafter, ∆SWB) and whether SWB changes the year after.

Methods: All data were derived from an online patient-reported outcome measure that included patients aged >18 years who were treated for breast cancer between October 2015 and March 2022 at the Erasmus University Medical Center.