The influence of breast cancer resection volume on patients' quality of life : a systematic literature review
Rusi, Aliisa (2025)
2025
Lääketieteen lisensiaatin tutkinto-ohjelma - Licentiate's Programme in Medicine
Lääketieteen ja terveysteknologian tiedekunta - Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2025-11-17
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-2025111710669
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-2025111710669
Tiivistelmä
Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among women globally, with approximately one in eight women developing it during their lifetime. The treatment commonly involves radiation therapy, hormonal treatment and surgery. The primary surgical approaches for breast cancer treatment are breast conserving surgery (BCS) and mastectomy. Additionally, the use of oncoplastic techniques has increased over the past 30 years.
The improvement of oncological treatment outcomes and decreasing mortality have shifted the focus of research towards quality-of-life (QoL) outcomes. Resection volume refers to the volume of tissue removed in BCS. It affects QoL in the short term (reoperations) and long term (cosmetic and functional outcome). The relation between resection volume and QoL has not been well established. This systematic review aims to determine whether the volume of resection in breast cancer surgery impacts patients’ quality of life.
A systematic literature search was performed using the Ovid MEDLINE database. The search included a combination of terms describing quality of life, surgical techniques, resection volume and cosmetic outcome. A total of 160 studies were initially screened based on their abstracts, followed by a full-texts screening. After this, the references of included studies were screened systematically. Finally, 24 papers were included in the review. The inclusion criteria required studies to assess both resection volume and quality of life or patient satisfaction and to establish a connection between the two.
The negative impact of larger resection volumes on quality of life was most evident when patients were treated with traditional breast conserving surgery. When oncoplastic techniques were implemented, the significance of resection volume was reduced. However, large variations in surgical techniques, quality of life questionnaires and patient demographics between studies complicate the generalizability and clinical applicability of these results.
The improvement of oncological treatment outcomes and decreasing mortality have shifted the focus of research towards quality-of-life (QoL) outcomes. Resection volume refers to the volume of tissue removed in BCS. It affects QoL in the short term (reoperations) and long term (cosmetic and functional outcome). The relation between resection volume and QoL has not been well established. This systematic review aims to determine whether the volume of resection in breast cancer surgery impacts patients’ quality of life.
A systematic literature search was performed using the Ovid MEDLINE database. The search included a combination of terms describing quality of life, surgical techniques, resection volume and cosmetic outcome. A total of 160 studies were initially screened based on their abstracts, followed by a full-texts screening. After this, the references of included studies were screened systematically. Finally, 24 papers were included in the review. The inclusion criteria required studies to assess both resection volume and quality of life or patient satisfaction and to establish a connection between the two.
The negative impact of larger resection volumes on quality of life was most evident when patients were treated with traditional breast conserving surgery. When oncoplastic techniques were implemented, the significance of resection volume was reduced. However, large variations in surgical techniques, quality of life questionnaires and patient demographics between studies complicate the generalizability and clinical applicability of these results.