According to the American Cancer Society, roughly 207,090 women
were diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States last year.
However, for the individual woman who is facing this scary and
uncertain disease, she may feel completely alone.
And that feeling could make her fight against cancer even more
difficult.
New research from Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) and the
Shanghai Institute of Preventive Medicine reveals woman with strong
social support systems during the first year after breast cancer
diagnosis are less likely to die or have a recurrence of the
disease.
Patients in the study were enrolled in the Shanghai Breast Cancer Survivor Study, a large, population-based review of female breast cancer survivors in China, which Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Shanghai Institute of Preventive Medicine have carried out since 2002.
From 2002 to 2004, a total of 2,230 breast cancer survivors completed a quality of life survey six months after diagnosis and a majority responded to a follow-up survey 36 months after diagnosis.
The women were asked about physical issues like sleep, eating and pain, psychological well-being, social support and material well-being. The answers were converted to an overall quality of life score.
Social well-being
The researchers found that six months after diagnosis, the only
element that lead to a decreased risk of dying or having a cancer
recurrence in the women was greater social well-being.
Compared to women with the lowest scores, women who scored highest
on the social well-being quality of life scale had a 48 percent
reduction in their risk of a cancer recurrence and a 38 percent
reduction in the risk of death.
Emotional support was the strongest predictor of cancer
recurrence.
Women who reported being highly satisfied in their marriages and
families had a 43 percent risk reduction.
Those who reported strong social support systems had a 40 percent
risk reduction and those with favorable interpersonal relationships
had a 35 percent risk reduction.
“We found that social well-being in the first year after
cancer diagnosis is an important prognostic factor for breast
cancer recurrence or death,” said Epplein.
Epplein said this suggests an opportunity to design cancer
treatment options that help maintain to enhance social support
systems for patients shortly after diagnosis.
While a strong social support network influenced cancer recurrence
and mortality during the first year, the association tapered off
and was no longer statistically significant by the third year after
diagnosis.
The researchers say this could be due to fewer patients completing
the follow-up questionnaire or other factors beyond quality of life
that take precedence in later years.
Still, the researchers seem optimistic about this finding.
“Our research supports previous studies that found a benefit
for breast cancer patients who have a meaningful emotional support
network,” said Epplein. “These results suggest that
therapeutic interventions may be useful because social well-being
is potentially modifiable.”
