Psychological Aspects to Consider in Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment
Open accessAbstract
Purpose of Review: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer diagnosed in women in the West World. Coping with cancer is cause of extreme stress for patients and their family. The purpose of this review is to evaluate possible approaches to follow to control those situations that can impact on quality of life (QoL) and compliance to treatments. Recent Findings: Anxiety, distress, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder are the most frequent psychological disorders in BC patients . Cognitive disorders and sexual dysfunction can also be important in affecting QoL both in younger and older patients. Younger and older patients show different characteristics of these disorders and different strategies of managing them. Summary: Several psychotherapeutic and supportive approaches have proven effective in managing psychological disorders in BC patients. Every BC patient should be supported with these techniques during her entire oncological history, in order to increase QoL and compliance to treatments.
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Patients with a history of anxiety and depression are at risk for increased mental health impact of breast cancer.
“Patients with a history of anxiety and depression are at risk for increased mental health impact of breast cancer [2].”
From Psychological Intervention and Breast Cancer (2024) · cites this paper as [2]
The Distress, Anxiety, and Depression section (page unavailable) says that receiving psychosocial services before a breast cancer diagnosis predicts long-lasting distress. That supports a link between prior psychological needs and later distress, but it does not specifically identify a history of anxiety or depression as the risk factor. (LLM, conf=0.82)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredUp to 73% of breast cancer patients appear to show sexual dysfunction symptoms in survivorship.
“Studies suggest up to 73% of patients appear to show sexual dysfunction symptoms in survivorship [2].”
From Psychological Intervention and Breast Cancer (2024) · cites this paper as [2]
The “Body Image and Sexual Dysfunctions” section reports sexual dysfunction in 73.4% of breast cancer patients and separately says survivors’ untreated sexual problems can persist or worsen (page unavailable). It does not establish that the 73.4% figure applies specifically during survivorship. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredAnxiety may be more prevalent than depression in breast cancer survivors.
“Recent studies suggest that anxiety may be more prevalent than depression in breast cancer survivors [2].”
From Psychological Intervention and Breast Cancer (2024) · cites this paper as [2]
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“Studies suggest up to 73% of patients appear to show sexual dysfunction symptoms in survivorship [2].”
Influential
- Authors
- Dinapoli, L., Colloca, G., Di Capua, B., & Valentini, V.
- Affiliations
- Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic (IT)
- Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (IT)
- Corresponding author
- Colloca, Giuseppe
- Venue
- Current Oncology Reports
- Published
- 2021-03
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 38-38
- ISSN
- 1523-3790 (ISSN-L)
- 1534-6269
- PMC
- PMC7952347
- OpenAlex
- W3135176112
- Cited by
- 223
- References
- 53
- Citations by year
- 2026: 47 · 2025: 81 · 2024: 55 · 2023: 29 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 2.88
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Current Oncology Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Women's cancer prevention and management
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › BRCA gene mutations in cancer
- Keywords
- breast cancer, psychological aspects, quality of life, medication adherence, anxiety, distress, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, cognitive impairment, sexual dysfunction, psychotherapy, supportive care, coping with cancer, age differences
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Anxiety, Breast Neoplasms, Female, Humans, Mental Health, Quality of Life, Stress, Psychological, Risk Assessment
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