Iranian Journal of Breast Diseases
Year:2018 | Volume:11 | Issue:2 |Papers Count:10

Introduction: Awareness of the prevalence of chemotherapy port infections and the underlying factors in cancer patients is absolutely necessary, providing us with methods to help eliminate the infection in these patients the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of port-related infections and the associated factors in women with breast cancer under chemotherapy.Methods: A total of 73 patients undergoing chemotherapy for treatment of breast cancer were screened for signs of infection following port insertion in the subclavian area. After confirmation of the symptoms of infection, samples were sent to two laboratories for diagnosis of infection. A P value of<.05 was considered significant.Results: Ten percent of the patients with clinical symptoms of infection were diagnosed with infection in laboratory tests. There were statistically significant differences in weight, age, the number of chemotherapy sessions, the duration of port placement, and the duration of hospitalization following port implantation between patients with infection and patients with no infection.Conclusion: Port-related infection in patients whit breast cancer can compromise the treatment process. Therefore, achieving better treatment outcomes requires considering the duration of port implantation and use, as well as paying attention to the clinical symptoms of infection and the underlying factors.

Introduction: Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies in women. Although the etiology of breast carcinoma is not completely understood, exposure to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is suggested as a risk factor for breast cancer. Studies have reported since 1995 that EBV is involved in the development of breast cancer. The aim of this study was to assess the presence of EBV in patients with breast cancer in Isfahan province.Methods: This study was performed using 40 paraffin-embedded tumor tissues and 40 tumor-free breast tissues from women with breast cancer in Isfahan province. After extraction of the DNA using salting-out method and the amplification of housekeeping gene beta- actin, all samples were examined for EBV DNA using PCR (polymerase chain reaction) method. Data were analyzed with chi-square test using SPSS 16software.Results: EBV was detected by PCR in 20 out of 40 (50%) cases of breast cancer samples and 5 out of 40 (12.5%) control samples. The chi-square statistics for the analysis of EBV infection in tumor and normal samples was 0.000 indicating a significant relationship between breast cancer and EBV infection in Isfahan province.Conclusion: The presence of EBV gene in a significant subset of women with breast cancer in Isfahan province shows EBVcan be one of the reasons for breast cancer, but more studies are needed to demonstrate the relationship between the virus and breast cancer.

Introduction: Different clinical trials showed that survival of Breast Conserving Surgery (BCS) and mastectomy is the same. However change in the appearance of a woman cause psychological trauma and could affect her quality of life. The aim of this study was to compare BCS and post-mastectomy reconstruction by prosthesis in terms of satisfaction and body image (BI) in Breast Cancer Research Center and Imam Khomeini Hospital.Methods: Breast cancer patients in stage 0, I, II who completed their treatment at least 3 months ago were included since august 2016 till October 2017. The Persian version of the BICI (Body Image Concern Inventory) questionnaire was used and Patients’ satisfaction was evaluated by scoring and also four-scale answers. The mean score of outcomes were measured by SPSS software and correlation between demographic variables like age and marital status and outcomes were analyzed by non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis& Mann-Whitney.Results: A total of 70 patients with BCS cases and 43 patients with prosthetic reconstruction were enrolled. The mean follow up time was 43.5 months (3-288) and the mean age was 44.3. There were no significant difference between two groups in terms of age, occupation, educational level and marital status except for economic status which was higher in econstruction group. The mean score for BI for BCS was 33.4 and for reconstruction group was 33.8. There was no significant difference between two groups in term of body image, also between demographic variables and body image. The mean score for patient satisfaction was 9.49 in BCS group and 8.89 in reconstruction group (P=0.004). Two groups were significantly different in term of satisfaction, it means that BCS patients were more satisfied about their surgery. Older patients were more satisfied in comparison to younger ones.Conclusion: Breast Conserving Surgery and Mastectomy with reconstruction by prosthesis were not significantly different in term of Body Image, but the satisfaction of surgery was worse in reconstruction group. The preferred option for breast cancer surgery is breast conservation if there are no contraindications. However reconstruction should be offered to patients for better body image and satisfaction.

Introduction: Breast cancer is one of the common malignant cancers in the world. Being informed about having the disease often causes mental distress and depression in patients. Studies show that the prevalence of depression in patients with breast cancer is 13% to 33%. Therefore, the present study was conducted to determine the predictive factors for depression in patients with breast cancer. The researchers also aimed at studying the associations among compassion, patience, and depression in breast cancer patients.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. The study population included all the women with breast cancer referred to the chemotherapy and oncology departments in Mahdieh Clinical Center, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Firoozgar Hospital, and Pars Hospital in Tehran in 2017. A sample of 397 patients was selected based on the Cochran formula through availability sampling. Participants completed Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI), the patience questionnaire by Khormaei et al, and Neff’s Self-compassion Scale. A multiple stepwise regression was performed to determine the role of patience and compassion in predicting depression, and the relationships among depression, compassion, and patience were explored by calculating the Pearson correlation coefficients. All analyses were performed using SPSS 24.Results: No significant relationship was observed between depression and patience (r=0.07, p>0.05), but there was a relationship between depression and transcendence (r=0.08, p<0.05), patience (r=0.11, p<0.05), satisfaction (r=0.15, p<0.01), and hesitation (r=-0.09, p<0.05). In addition, correlation coefficients for depression and other components were obtained (overall compassion score: r=0.11, p<0.05; self-kindness: r=0.31, p<0.01; self-judgment: r=0.24, p<0.01; mindfulness: r=0.27, p<0.01; and common humanity (r=0.34, p<0.01). Self-kindness and common humanity accounted for 15% of the variance in depression in patients with cancer (p<0.01).Conclusion: Patience enhances tolerance by developing resilience. On the other hand, self-compassion leads to higher emotional flexibility in dealing with cancer. Thus, it could be concluded that there is a relationship between self-compassion and depression in patients with breast cancer. Therefore, it is suggested that health professionals in hospitals should pay attention to enhancing patience and kindness in their interventions.

Introduction: In Iran, many of the women with breast cancer complain of communication problems with their spouses after diagnosis and treatment. One of the most important issues in this area is reducing their psychological problems and improving their quality of life. The present study was conducted to compare sexual satisfaction and body image between women with breast cancer after treatment and healthy women.Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. A total of 146 women, aged<50 years, were selected by convenience sampling from healthy women (n=73) and women with breast cancer after treatment (n=73) who were referred to the Breast Disease Clinic of Motamed Cancer Institute, Tehran, Iran. The Sexual Satisfaction Scale for Women (SSSW) and Body Image Concern Inventory (BICI) were used for data collection.Results: The mean sexual satisfaction score for the women was significantly higher than that for the breast cancer patients (102.06 ± 17.06 vs 80.6 ± 20.97, p<0.001). Also, healthy women had fewer body image concerns compared with the patients (37.85 ± 10.85 vs 46.11 ± 16.99, p<0.001). The difference between the groups was significant for each component of the variables (p<0.05).Conclusion: Breast cancer survivors have a lower sexual satisfaction and more body image concerns compared with healthy women. These results show the importance of providing counseling for these patients to improve their quality of life.

Introduction: Breast cancer is among common cancers in women. Early diagnosis affects the prognosis of this disease. This study was performed to investigate methods of breast cancer screening among nurses and to find its relationship with the components of the Champion Health Belief Model.Methods: In this analytical cross-sectional study, 209 nurses from Kerman educational hospitals were evaluated in 2015. The instrument used was the Persian version of the standardized Champion Health Belief Model Scale (CHBMS). Data were analyzed using the independent t-test on SPSS17 software package.Results: The Mean age of participants was 35.6±8.01 years. The rates of regular breast self-examination, history of breast clinical examination, and history of mammography were 9.3%, 24.6% and 12.8%, respectively. Perceived seriousness was higher in married than in single subjects. Self- efficacy, perceived benefit, and perceived barriers significantly affected doing breast self-examination. Perceived susceptibility and self-efficacy affected visiting a physician for breast physical examination, and perceived barriers had a significant effect on doing mammography.Conclusion: The present study showed a low rate of breast cancer screening in nurses and considering the relationship of these beliefs with self-efficacy and perceived barriers, it is recommended that training programs focus more on these two aspects.