Relationship between chemotherapy-induced adverse reactions and health-related quality of life in patients with breast cancer

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Chemotherapy does not only affect cancer cells; it also affects, to a greater or lesser degree, all other cells in the body. This toxicity should be assessed according to its severity, frequency, and duration, taking into account objective and subjective dimensions in its assessment. This assessment is a highly relevant aspect when providing care to chemotherapy patients, mainly due to the impact of the treatment on the patient's quality of life, as well as the vital risk it may imply under certain circumstances. For all this, the objective of this study was to assess the relationship between chemotherapy-associated adverse reactions and health-related quality of life in breast cancer patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: With this purpose, a descriptive cross-sectional study was developed on 110 breast cancer patients who were treated with docetaxel, epirubicin, and cyclophosphamide. RESULTS: It is worth highlighting the negative effect of nausea, dysgeusia, peripheral neuropathy, loss of appetite, myalgia, and peripheral edema on the quality of life. Likewise, it is worth mentioning peripheral neuropathy as the toxicity that affects a greater number of quality-of-life indicators. CONCLUSIONS: To sum up, it would be necessary to make health professionals aware of the importance of chemotherapy-associated adverse reactions.