This study describes the fertility intention and explores factors related to fertility intention in reproductive-age women with breast cancer in Taiwan. In this cross-sectional study, women of childbearing age who had been diagnosed with breast cancer completed a face-to-face survey that included demographic, disease, and symptom-related data, and social support and fertility intention information. The mean fertility intention score among the 223 participants was "medium" ( M ± SD = 41.18 ± 12.62). Higher symptom severity, especially for distress, was related to lower fertility intention. Instrumental support from families and friends was positively associated with fertility intention score. Younger women had better fertility intention scores than older women. The Sobel test showed that age mediated menopause and fertility intention. The findings offer the evidence of the needs to control symptoms and provide sufficient instrumental support regarding fertility after completing chemotherapy.
Aim
The purposes of this study were to describe the degree of knowledge and explore the factors associated with knowledge of infertility among women of childbearing age with breast cancer.
Methods
In this cross‐sectional study, we recruited women of childbearing age with a diagnosis of breast cancer who had completed chemotherapy at a hospital in Taipei from 2015 through 2016. Face‐to‐face interviews were completed with 201 (62%) of 324 eligible women, asking about sociodemographic variables, disease and treatment characteristics, fertility intention, and infertility‐related knowledge.
Results
The result showed one in 10 women had thought about becoming pregnant after completion of breast cancer chemotherapy. The mean score of infertility knowledge among participants was low, especially for general knowledge. Women with higher levels of education had better knowledge scores. Fertility intention score, especially for the domain of the pregnant risk, was negatively associated with infertility knowledge score.
Conclusion
Women with breast cancer lacked knowledge about infertility and underestimated the possibility of infertility. We suggest future patient education on infertility after cancer treatment and about reproductive technology in oncologic practice before treatment begins.
Aims
Invasive breast cancer patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) immunohistochemical (IHC) scores of 3+ or 2+ with reflex in‐situ hybridisation (ISH) positivity are suitable for anti‐HER2 therapies. The aim of this study is to investigate whether the prognoses between IHC 3+ patients and IHC 2+/ISH+ patients are different.
Methods and results
We analysed the clinicopathological information of 886 consecutive cases of HER2‐positive early breast cancer. The influences of the patients’ age, cancer stage, hormone receptor status and anti‐HER2 treatment were adjusted using a multivariate Cox regression model. Both HER2 copy numbers and HER2 ISH ratios of the IHC 3+ group were significantly higher than those of the IHC 2+/ISH+ group. The outcomes of IHC 3+ patients were significantly better than those of IHC 2+/ISH+ patients in the univariate and multivariate analyses. HER2 copy numbers of ≥8 represented the best prognostic value, and it was chosen to be the cut‐off value. The reflex ISH for IHC 2+ patients with high HER2 copy numbers (≥8) predicted a better overall survival than that for those with low HER2 copy numbers.
Conclusion
HER2 IHC scores and HER2 copy numbers can provide prognostic information for patients with HER2‐positive invasive breast cancer. Both IHC 3+ and IHC 2+ patients with high HER2 copy numbers had a better prognosis.
Background: Infertility is negatively related to the quality of life in reproductive-age women with breast cancer. The nurses who care for these patients lack a comprehensive understanding of the changes in fertility intention that patients undergo from the time of cancer diagnosis, throughout treatment, and after treatment. A fertility intention assessment is the first step in discerning the patient's ideas toward future pregnancy.Aims: This study examined the changes in fertility intention and symptom burden in reproductive-age women with breast cancer before, during, and after treatment. We also explored predictors of fertility intention among the women.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.