Problems Linger After Breast Cancer Treatment

March 2, 2004 -- When Christina Koenig finished seven grueling months of breast cancer treatments in the summer of 2002, friends and family members were ready to celebrate. They threw a big party to coincide with her 40th birthday, but the Chicago single mom says she was too emotionally and physically exhausted to enjoy it.

"Everybody's attitude was, 'Hey it's all over. Things can get back to normal.' But I didn't feel normal at all. I felt really fatigued and beaten up," she tells WebMD. "It was nice to see everybody. And I wanted to feel like it was all behind me, but I was just exhausted."

Koenig's experience is hardly unique, as a newly released study shows. Although the physical and emotional toll of breast cancer has been well documented among women who are newly diagnosed or are long-term survivors of the disease, the study is one of the first to examine the well-being of women in the weeks after treatment.

Common Complaints

Researchers found that women who have recently completed breast cancer treatment tended to have fewer emotional problems than might be expected and more physical complaints.

The most often-cited complaints included fatigue, aches and pains, hot flashes, and sexual dysfunction. Women who had mastectomies reported the poorest overall physical functioning, and sexual problems were much worse for women who got chemotherapy than those who received surgery only.

"Once treatment ends, friends and family members may think that everything should be back to normal," oncologist and lead researcher Patricia A. Ganz, MD, tells WebMD. "While that may be the case for women who have short treatment courses with minimal side effects, that is certainly not true for everyone."

Depending on the extent of disease and other factors, breast cancer treatment can take as little as a few weeks or as long as a year. On one end of the spectrum, women may undergo only a single surgical procedure to remove a localized tumor during biopsy and at the other end she may have a full surgical mastectomy, followed by months of chemotherapy and radiation.

Ganz and colleagues collected information on the health status and quality of life of 558 women immediately following breast cancer surgery. After the women completed their treatment, they were sent surveys to assess their physical and emotional well-being.

Responses were analyzed for the women as a group and by the type of treatment they received. Treatment times averaged two to four months for women who did not have chemotherapy and seven to eight months for those who did.

The investigators found that mood and emotional well-being were similar for all women regardless of treatment, with little evidence depression. Overall, 61% of women reported being unhappy with their appearance, 60% reported having hot flashes, 60% reported having aches and pains, 56% reported unusual forgetfulness, 56% reported breast sensitivity, 54% reported joint pains, and 51% reported muscle stiffness.