ESTRO 2024 - Abstract Book

S5716

RTT - Patient experience and quality of life

ESTRO 2024

Breast cancer and its treatment lead to mutilation and changes in body functioning. Our work was conducted with the objective of assessing the impact of a total mastectomy on women's self-esteem and body image, as well as the factors that may influence it.

Material/Methods:

We conducted a cross-sectional study of 55 women, from a psychosocial perspective, who had undergone adjuvant radiotherapy after uni or bilateral mastectomy between January and March 2023 at the Rabat National Institute of Oncology. Two questionnaires were used for each woman: the Body Image Scale (BIS) and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale.

Results:

In our study, the prevalence of body image disorder according to the BIS was 45%. The mean BIS score was 12.54, with extremes ranging from 0 to 27 and a standard deviation of 8.96. Concerning the self-esteem scale, 40% had an altered self-esteem and 27.3% had average self-esteem. In multivariate analysis, deterioration of the couple relationship, lack of family support, presence of financial or emotional distress or both, and bilateral total mastectomy were independent predictors of this body image and self-esteem disorder. In our context, total mastectomy was found to be a factor contributing to professional abandonment for around 1/3 of patients.

However, reconstructive surgery is possible, and in our study, 18 patients wished to have a breast prosthesis.

Conclusion:

Our study confirmed that total mastectomy has a significant impact on self-esteem and body image. It is therefore essential in our context to provide all patients with preventive psychological help from the outset.

Keywords: Breast cancer, Self-esteem, Body image

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Digital Poster

Prehabilitation exercise interventions for pelvic radiation therapy: a Systematic Review

Lauren McCarthy, Annemarie Devine, Dr. Andrew England, Amy Mason, Prof. Mark McEntee, Theresa O'Donovan

University College Cork, Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy, School of Medicine, Cork, Ireland

Purpose/Objective:

RT is utilised as a fundamental treatment modality alongside chemotherapy and surgery in the management of pelvic cancers in both radical and palliative settings. RT plays a key role in improving patient outcomes in terms of five-year local control (LC), overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS) when combined with cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents and surgical intervention 1 . Despite dose limitations set by dose volume