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The majority of women who have undergone lumpectomy or mastectomy for bad cancer report that scars from these surgeries negatively affect their daily lives. Yet one-third of patients said their doctor had not told them about surgical options minimizing scars, according to a report recently published by the review. BMC Cancer.
Breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer in the world, with approximately 269,000 new cases diagnosed and more than 42,000 deaths in the United States in 2019, according to the National Institutes of Health. In the United States, more than 3.5 million women have survived bad cancer, many of whom have scars resulting from surgical treatments.
"After surviving the cancer trauma, many women still have to deal with the psychological and physical consequences of a new diagnosis of cancer and its treatment," said author Jennifer S. Gbad, MD, FACS, chief of the surgery department at the Women & Infants Hospital, a New England care hospital; Director of the Breast Exchange at the Women & Infants Breast Health Center; a member of Care New England Medical Group; and Clinical Assistant Professor at Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University.
Our results illustrate how important it is for surgeons to ensure that their patients are aware of the long-term impact of cancer surgery and its impact on their bodies. Patients should know if they could be candidates for surgical options minimizing morbidity. A surgical scar is a morbidity. "
Jennifer S. Gbad, MD, FACS
The survey indicates that two-thirds of respondents do not like the location of their scar. This scar has had an impact on the daily lives of many women, in terms of self-awareness and choice of clothes. Yet, one in three bad cancer patients said her doctor had never told her about surgical options to reduce the visibility of her scars and thus potentially the psychological and physical impact of the scars.
The survey of 487 women having undergone lumpectomy and / or mastectomy is the first national peer-reviewed study to examine the negative badociation of surgical scars and bad cancer survival, how these scars affect their lives and if these scars are important. The investigation revealed:
- 64% of women treated with a lumpectomy only and 67% of women treated with mastectomy only said they did not like the location of their surgical scar.
- 63% of lumpectomy respondents and 77% of mastectomy respondents only feel aware of their scars.
- 57% of patients who have had a lumpectomy and 66% who have had a mastectomy decide not to wear certain clothes because they reveal the scars of their bad cancer surgery.
- 32% of those surveyed with surgery only and 35% of those who had a mastectomy reported that their doctor did not inform them of surgical options such as nipple sparing mastectomy or hidden scar techniques. Of these respondents, about six in ten said they would have considered these options if their doctor had told them about them.
- 60% of those who underwent surgery alone and 72% of those who had only had a mastectomy said they did not realize, before their surgery, how uncomfortable their scars were when they had a surgery. they undressed.
- Only 26% of those interviewed with lumpectomy alone and 14% of those with mastectomy alone reported minimal or no negative impact due to surgical scarring.
Source:
New England Care
Journal reference:
Gbad, J.S. et al. (2019) What is the impact of the scars of a bad cancer surgery on survival? Results of a national survey conducted in the United States. BMC Cancer. doi.org/10.1186/s12885-019-5553-0.
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