@article {URSINI1821, author = {LUCIA ANNA URSINI and MARIANNA NUZZO and CONSUELO ROSA and FIORELLA CRISTINA DI GUGLIELMO and MONICA DI TOMMASO and MARIANNA TRIGNANI and MARZIA BORGIA and ALBINA ALLAJBEJ and FABIOLA PATANI and CLELIA DI CARLO and ANNAMARIA PORRECA and MARTA DI NICOLA and DOMENICO GENOVESI and LUCIANA CARAVATTA}, title = {Quality of Life in Early Breast Cancer Patients: A Prospective Observational Study Using the FACT-B Questionnaire}, volume = {35}, number = {3}, pages = {1821--1828}, year = {2021}, doi = {10.21873/invivo.12443}, publisher = {International Institute of Anticancer Research}, abstract = {Background/Aim: Quality of life (QoL) in early breast cancer (BC) treatment may be affected by acute and late toxicities. This study evaluated the impact of radiotherapy (RT) schedules, treatment-related toxicities, hormone therapy (HT) and age on QoL. Patients and Methods: Ninety-five patients answered the FACT-B 4.0 questionnaire. Acute or late toxicities were recorded at each follow-up visit. Results: The median trend of the QoL subscales was stable during all questionnaires. HT negatively impacted on Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General-Total, functional and emotional wellbeing. No difference was recorded between RT schedules and toxicity. No significant differences for age were detected in QoL. Conclusion: RT seems not to influence QoL of BC patients, in terms of fractionation regimen or RT-related side-effects. Moreover, women having systemic HT experienced a QoL worse than patients treated with RT only. Further and long-term protocols are needed to improve the validity of the tool.}, issn = {0258-851X}, URL = {https://iv.iiarjournals.org/content/35/3/1821}, eprint = {https://iv.iiarjournals.org/content/35/3/1821.full.pdf}, journal = {In Vivo} }