Impact of modified radical mastectomy on health-related quality of life in women with early stage breast cancer.

BACKGROUND Systematic reviews favor a better body image and sexual activity in patients who have undergone conservative breast surgery (BCS) compared to modified radical mastectomy (MRM). In those patients with the same survival, MRM remains the surgical choice among both surgeons and patients in Iran as well as in many other countries. This cross-sectional study focuses on health-related quality of life in early stage breast cancer patients following BCS and MRM. METHODS From all post-op patients who referred to the Motahari Clinic, Shiraz, Iran, we used a convenient sampling method to select 160 MRM patients and 127 who underwent BCS. Translated copies of the EORTC QLQ-C30 (version 3) and the EORTC QLQ-BR23 questionnaires, in addition to a third questionnaire which was customized and prepared for this study, were completed by the patients under our supervision RESULTS The two groups were compared by a multivariate method (Hotelling's trace test) after controlling for variables with unequal values such as disease stage, hormonal and radiotherapy treatments, and patients' role in the choice of surgery. We noted a significant difference (P < 0.001) attributed to a significantly better BI in the BCS group (average: 78.49 ± 23.14) compared to the MRM group (average: 60.71 ± 23.14). DISCUSSION We concluded that in terms of body image, BCS has a better impact on health-related quality of life.