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. 2017 Feb 23:11:1179554917691266.
doi: 10.1177/1179554917691266. eCollection 2017.

Understanding Women's Choice of Mastectomy Versus Breast Conserving Therapy in Early-Stage Breast Cancer

Jeffrey Gu  1   2 , Gary Groot  2 , Lorraine Holtslander  3   4 , Rachel Engler-Stringer  2
Affiliations

Understanding Women's Choice of Mastectomy Versus Breast Conserving Therapy in Early-Stage Breast Cancer

Jeffrey Gu et al. Clin Med Insights Oncol. .

Abstract

Objective: To identify factors that influence Saskatchewan women's choice between breast conserving therapy (BCT) and mastectomy in early-stage breast cancer (ESBC) and to compare and contrast underlying reasons behind choice of BCT versus mastectomy.

Methods: Interpretive description methods guided this practice-based qualitative study. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis and presented in thematic maps.

Results: Women who chose mastectomy described 1 of the 3 main themes: worry about cancer recurrence, perceived consequences of BCT treatment, or breast-tumor size perception. In contrast, women chose BCT because of 3 different themes: mastectomy being too radical, surgeon influence, and feminine identity.

Conclusions: Although individual reasons for choosing mastectomy versus BCT have been discussed in the literature before, different rationale underlying each choice has not been previously described. These results are novel in identifying interdependent subthemes and secondary reasons for each choice. This is important for increased understanding of factors influencing a complicated decision-making process.

Keywords: breast conservation therapy; cancer; decision-making; early-stage breast cancer; mastectomy; oncology.

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Conflict of interest statement

DECLARATION OF CONFLICTING INTERESTS: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Thematic map for mastectomy participants. BCT indicates breast conserving therapy; F/U, follow-up; Hx, history.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Thematic map for breast conserving therapy (BCT) participants.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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