MBF Health and Wellbeing after Breast Cancer Study

Preliminary Findings to Date

Data analysis of the Enrolment, 1st Follow-up and 2nd Follow-up Questionnaires is underway.

Characteristics of the Study population

1.       1684 eligible participants completed the Enrolment Questionnaire.                                                     

2.       The average age at diagnosis was 57.5 years.

          At the time of breast cancer diagnosis:

• 103 (6%) women were <40 years old
• 914 (54%) women were 40-60 years old
• 667 (40%) women were >60 years old

 3.       The area of residence of Study participants at the time of breast cancer diagnosis was:

• 1130 (67%) women were living in metropolitan Melbourne.
•   554 (33%) women were living in regional, rural or remote Victoria

 The age at diagnosis and the area of residence of the participants are similar in distribution to that of all women living in Victoria diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. The women in the study are therefore a good representation of Victorian women diagnosed with breast cancer

Published Results

A number of papers discussing the ongoing analysis of data from the completed Questionnaires have recently been published

These include:

1.  “Use of a cancer registry is preferable to a direct-to-community approach for recruitment to a cohort study of wellbeing in women newly diagnosed with invasive breast cancer” Lijovic M, Davis SR, Fradkin P, et al

The methods of recruitment to the study are detailed in this first paper.It can be viewed via the following link:  http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2407-8-126.pdf

A summary of each of the following  papers can be accessed by clicking on their titles below: 

2.    A pragmatic approach to the classification of menopausal status for community-based research.   Bell RJ, Lijovic M, Fradkin P, Davis SR. Menopause. 2008 Sep-Oct;15(5):978-83.

This paper describes a method that can be used to classify the menopausal status of women who may be difficult to classify because they are on hormonal therapy or have had a hysterectomy in the past.

3. The relationship between knowledge of family history and cancer characteristics at diagnosis in women newly-diagnosed with invasive breast cancer . Lijovic M, Davis SR, et al. Familial Cancer 2009; Feb 17. [Epub ahead of print]

In this paper we report that women with smaller and earlier stage breast cancer at diagnosis are more likely to report a family history of breast cancer that includes at least one first degree relative, and so may be more diligent with regular screening for the disease.

4.  Lack of knowledge of hormone receptor status is associated with lower prevalence of use of endocrine therapy in women with invasive breast cancer. Bell RJ, Lijovic M, et al. Journal of women’s Health. 2009 [In press, Accepted April 2009]

In this paper we report that women who lack knowledge about the hormone receptor status of their breast cancer are less likely to be taking appropriate endocrine therapy.