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Quality of Life Issues During Adjuvant Endocrine Therapy

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Adjuvant Therapy for Breast Cancer

Part of the book series: Cancer Treatment and Research ((CTAR,volume 151))

When the media report the results from studies reporting the latest breakthrough in adjuvant drug treatments, they are usually described in terms of relative rather than absolute benefits. Many women with early stage breast (EBC) cancer may not realise that they do not necessarily require any further adjuvant treatments and that claims for example of a 50% reduction in risk of recurrence does not relate to an individual woman’s risk. For many who receive systemic therapy the relative benefits may be small and not outweigh the associated costs of side effects. Until basic science can provide us with a better understanding of how to target treatments to those most likely to derive benefit, we need to collect side-effect data systematically and conduct considerably more research into ameliorative interventions to help patients cope with the worst symptoms.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cancer Research UK Psychosocial Oncology Group, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, BN1 9QG, East Sussex, UK

    Lesley Fallowfield BSc, D.Phil

  2. Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK

    Valerie Jenkins BSc, D.Phil

Authors
  1. Lesley Fallowfield BSc, D.Phil
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  2. Valerie Jenkins BSc, D.Phil
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Correspondence to Lesley Fallowfield BSc, D.Phil .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Inselspital, Univ. Bern, Bern, 3010, Switzerland

    Monica Castiglione

  2. Inst. Jules Bordet, Universite Libre Bruxelles, Bd. de Waterloo 125, Bruxelles, 1000, Belgium

    Martine J. Piccart

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Fallowfield, L., Jenkins, V. (2009). Quality of Life Issues During Adjuvant Endocrine Therapy. In: Castiglione, M., Piccart, M. (eds) Adjuvant Therapy for Breast Cancer. Cancer Treatment and Research, vol 151. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-75115-3_22

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-75115-3_22

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-387-75114-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-387-75115-3

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