Supportive Νeeds of Breast Cancer Patients under Hormonotherapy

Abstract

Background: Hormone therapy is vital to the treatment of breast cancer patients, but long-term treatment creates many side effects that often lead to therapy interruption with significant effects on early cancer patients and survivors. Aim: Systematic review of supportive care needs of patients with breast cancer that receive hormone therapy. Method: A critical review of research articles was made, using the electronic databases Medline, Cochrane and HEAL-Link, and the Google Scholar with the key words: “breast cancer”, “supportive care needs”, “unmet needs”, “quality of life”, “hormone therapy”, “endocrine therapy”. The inclusion criteria were the English language, the hormone therapy and only the patients who were diagnosed with breast cancer without receiving chemotherapy or radiotherapy at the same time. The chronological searching period of bibliography was between 2000 and 2017. The sample was finally 21 primary research articles, 11 about quality of life, 2 about pharmacological interventions and 8 about non pharmacological interventions. Results: The data analysis showed that the most frequent side effects of hormone therapy in quality of life were nausea, hot flushes, musculoskeletal disorders, gynecological problems, fatigue and sleep disorders. Pharmacological and non pharmacological interventions, such as zoledronic acid, vaginal gel, exercise, yoga, hydrotherapy and acupuncture, were associated with statistically important reduction of due to hormone therapy side effects. The improvement rates were between 14% and 100%. Conclusions: Early recognition and support for breast cancer patients under hormonotherapy, with unmeet care needs, can lead to improved results.