Reduced rates of cancer-related worries and mortality associated with guideline surveillance after breast cancer therapy

Abstract

Objective. Guidelines have been developed for appropriate post-therapy surveillance for breast cancer recurrence. Two objectives of post-therapy surveillance are to support and counsel patients and to detect potentially curable local recurrences and new cancers in the opposite breast. The objective of this investigation was to assess the impact of guideline surveillance (history, physical examination, and annual mammography) on cancer-related worries and all-cause mortality. Study design and setting. We collected data on a cohort of 303 Massachusetts women with stages I or II breast cancer diagnosed between 1992 and 1994. Cases were women with increasing cancer-related worries or decedents. We used risk-set sampling to match five controls to each case on follow-up time. Cases and members of their matched risk set were characterized with respect to receipt of guideline surveillance and covariates preceding the date of their outcomes. Results. The adjusted odds ratio associating guideline surveillance in the preceding year with an increase in cancer-related worries equaled 0.37 (95% CI=0.14–0.99). The adjusted odds ratio associating continuous guideline surveillance with all-cause mortality equaled 0.66 (95% CI=0.51-0.86). Conclusion. The results are consistent with the stated objectives of surveillance follow-up of breast cancer patients after the completion of their primary therapy.