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Quality of Life in Breast Cancer

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Handbook of Quality of Life in Cancer

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Abstract

Breast cancer is the commonest malignancy in women with one in eight women developing this disease during their lifetime. The impact of this very common disease on healthcare systems is enormous, affecting a major part of the population, with significant socioeconomic consequences. During the last decade, we have seen many advances in the treatment of this disease, with the introduction of newer and innovative drugs especially in the metastatic setting. The overall survival rate of this disease has climbed significantly, not only as a result of screening being implemented in many countries, but also because patient awareness of symptoms has increased and research funding and disease understanding have helped to establish earlier diagnosis and better treatment. Despite the better prognosis and survival, this disease can severely compromise the quality of life of the patients and their carers. This chapter will try to analyse the importance of understanding patient and disease characteristics like age, stage and disease heterogeneity, the different treatment pathways, and how this affect differently the quality of life.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bank of Cyprus Oncology Centre, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Yiola Marcou

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  1. Yiola Marcou
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Correspondence to Yiola Marcou .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Health Research, University College London, London, UK

    Angelos P. Kassianos

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Marcou, Y. (2022). Quality of Life in Breast Cancer. In: Kassianos, A.P. (eds) Handbook of Quality of Life in Cancer. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84702-9_22

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84702-9_22

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-84701-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-84702-9

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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