Improved long-term patient-reported health and well-being outcomes of early-stage breast cancer treated with partial breast proton therapy.

Background: Because early-stage breast cancer can be treated successfully by a variety of breast-conservation approaches, long-term quality of life (QoL) is an important consideration in assessing treatment outcomes for these patients. This study compares patient-reported QoL outcomes among women with stage 0-2 disease treated via lumpectomy followed by whole breast irradiation (WBI) or partial breast proton irradiation (PBPT).

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 129 participants evaluated QoL several years post-treatment by responding to subjective instruments, including established scalar questionnaires and self-report measures.