Table 1

Characteristics of studies examining psychosocial factors associated with breast cancer survival

Reference
Setting
Type of study
Study population
Aim of the study

Greer et al. 1979 [4]
King's College Hospital, UK
Prospective
69 women with early breast cancer (T 0–1, N 0–1, M 0)
Examination of the effect of the psychological response to breast cancer on outcome
Derogatis et al. 1979 [5]
Johns Hopkins Oncology Center, Baltimore, USA
Prospective
35 women under treatment for metastatic breast cancer
Examination of the effect of psychological factors on breast cancer survival
Marshall et al. 1983 [6]
Roswell Park Memorial Institute
Cohort analysis
352 white women with primary breast cancer presenting between 1958 and 1960
Examination of the effect of the social environment on breast cancer survival
Jensen et al. 1987 [7]
USA
Prospective
Three groups (G) of women: G1 (n = 25), breast cancer recurrent or metastatic; G2 (n = 27), breast cancer without recurrence; G3 (n = 34), no history of cancer
Examination of the effect of psychological factors on the survival/recurrence
Jamison et al. 1987 [8]
Adult outpatient Oncology Clinic of Vanderbilt University Hospital, Nashville
Prospective
49 women with metastatic breast cancer
Examination of the effect of psychosocial factors on breast cancer survival
Hislop et al. 1987 [9]
A Maxwell Evans Clinic, Vancouver, Canada
Prospective
133 women with primary ductal breast cancer (stages I to IV) diagnosed between June 1980 and May 1981
Examination of the effect of psychosocial factors on breast cancer survival/recurrence
Cassileth et al. 1988 [10]
University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center, USA
Prospective (controlled)
204 patients with advanced, prognostically poor malignant disease at diagnosis (Group I), and 155 patients with intermediate or high-risk melanoma or stage II breast cancer (Group II); breast cancer patients n = 88
Examination of the effect of psychosocial factors on breast cancer survival in an 8 year follow-up period
Levy et al. 1988 [11]
NIH Clinical Center
Prospective
36 women with recurrent breast cancer
Examination of the effect of biological and psychological factors on breast cancer survival
Ramirez et al. 1989 [12]
Guy's hospital, London
Lewisham Hospital, London
Case control
50 women who had developed a first recurrence after treatment for operable breast cancer, 50 who had operable breast cancer in remission
Examination of the effect of stressful life events on breast cancer recurrence
Barraclough et al. 1992 [13]
Breast clinics in Southampton and Portsmouth
Prospective
204 breast cancer patients without clinical evidence of spread beyond the axilla, treated either with mastectomy or wide excision followed by radiotherapy
Examination of the effect of psychosocial factors on breast cancer recurrence
Morris et al. 1992 [14]
Charing Cross and Royal Marsden Hospitals, London, UK
Prospective
88 patients with early breast cancer T 0–2, N 0–1, M 0
Examination of the effect of psychological response to cancer disease on survival/recurrence 3 years post diagnosis and 5 years later
Reynolds et al. 1994 [15]
National Cancer Institute, Atlanta, Georgia; New Orleans, Louisiana; San Francisco, Oakland, California
Prospective
552 black and 486 white women with newly diagnosed breast cancer of any stage
Examination of the effect of social factors on breast cancer survival
Tross et al. 1996 [16]
Multi-centre study, USA
Prospective
280 women with stage II breast cancer who have undergone surgery and participated in a national clinical trial of CALGB involving 4 adjuvant therapy regimens
Examination of the effect of psychological factors on breast cancer survival/recurrence over a 15 year period
Buddeberg et al. 1996 [17]
Department of Gynaecology, Zurich and Basel, Switzerland, and Hospital Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Bad Sackingen, Germany
Prospective
107 women with early breast cancer who had undergone surgery 6 months earlier
Examination of the effect of different coping strategies on breast cancer survival, 5 to 6 years after primary surgical treatment
Kreitler et al. 1997 [18]
Five hospitals in the centre of Israel
Prospective
96 women with stage I, II breast cancer
Examination of the effect of psychological factors on breast cancer survival/recurrence
Tominaga et al. 1998 [19]
Tochigi Cancer Centre hospital, Saitama, Japan
Prospective
398 female patients who had undergone surgery for primary breast cancer between 1 September 1986 and 31 January 1995 at the Tochigi Cancer Centre Hospital and followed up in the outpatient clinic; some patients were treated with radiation and/or chemotherapy in addition to surgical treatment
Examination of the effect of social factors on breast cancer survival in a follow-up period up to the end of October 1995 or death
Brabander and Gerits 1999 [20]
The University Hospital of the Free University of Brussels, Belgium
Prospective
44 patients with stage I to III primary breast carcinoma (56 women were admitted to the University Hospital of the Free University of Brussels for a breast biopsy and 44 of them had a primary mammary carcinoma)
Examination of the effect of acute and chronic stress on breast cancer recurrence in 3.5 year follow-up period
Watson et al. 1999 [21]
Royal Marsden Hospital, London and Sutton, UK
Prospective
578 women with an early stage breast cancer (stages I and II), diagnosed 4 to 12 weeks before the inclusion date; their psychological response was measured 4 to 12 weeks and 12 months after diagnosis
Examination of the effect of psychological factors on breast cancer survival/recurrence in an at least 5 year follow-up period
Reynolds et al. 2000 [22]
National Cancer Institute, Atlanta, Georgia; New Orleans, Louisiana; San Francisco, Oakland, California
Prospective
442 black and 405 white women with invasive breast cancer of any stage diagnosed during 1985 to 1986
Examination of the effect of different coping strategies on breast cancer survival
Butow et al. 2000 [23]
Department of Medical Oncology, Sydney, Australia
Prospective
99 patients with metastatic breast cancer seen for the first time between 1991 and 1995 in the Department of Medical Oncology in a major teaching hospital in Sydney. Women entered the study a median of 4.7 months since diagnosis of distant metastases
Examination of the effect of psychosocial factors on breast cancer survival in a 2 year follow-up period
Weihs et al. 2000 [24]
Four academic medical centres in Washington, USA
Prospective cohort
32 (out of 65 eligible) patients with recurrent breast cancer diagnosed 6 to 19 months earlier and stabilized using surgical, medical and/or radiation therapies
Examination of the effect of psychological factors on breast cancer survival at 6 and 19 months after diagnosis
Graham et al. 2002 [25]
NHS Breast Clinic, London; 1991 to 1999
Prospective observational cohort
Consecutive series of 222 women diagnosed at Guy's Hospital between May 1991 and July 1994, aged 60 and under, newly diagnosed as having a primary operable breast tumour; 202/222 (91%) eligible women participated in the first life experiences interview, while 170 (77%) provided complete interview data either up to 5 years after diagnosis or recurrence
Examination of the effect of stress on breast cancer recurrence in a 5 year follow-up period
Soler-Vila et al. 2003 [26]
22 Connecticut hospitals, USA
Prospective cohort
145 African-American and 177 white women (out of 423 eligible women) diagnosed with a first primary breast cancer of any stage between January 1987 and March 1989
Examination of the effect of psychosocial factors on all-cause mortality and breast cancer mortality in 10 year follow-up period
Soler-Vila et al. 2005 [27]
22 Connecticut hospitals, USA
Prospective
145 African-American and 177 white women (out of 423 eligible women) diagnosed with a first primary breast cancer between January 1987 and March 1989
Examination of the effect of cancer-specific beliefs on breast cancer survival in a 15 year follow-up period
Hjerl et al. 2003 [28]
Denmark
Retrospective
20,589 women with breast cancer; 10,382 had early stage (tumour size <50 mm and no axillary lymph nodes infiltrated), 10,211 had late stage breast cancer (tumour size >50 mm, at least one infiltrated axillary lymph node, malignancy stage II or III in premenopausal women)
Examination of the effect of depression on breast cancer survival
Goodwin et al. 2004 [29]
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Prospective
397 women diagnosed with breast cancer at participating University of Toronto teaching hospitals between October 1991 and May 1996. The patients were under 75 years of age, with T1 to T3, N0/N1, and M0 breast cancer; they represented women recruited during the final 5 years of a larger prospective cohort study examining prognostic effects of a number of lifestyle-related factors
Examination of the effect of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and psychosocial factors on breast cancer survival/recurrence 2 months after diagnosis and 1 year later
Osborne et al. 2004 [30]
Four Melbourne public teaching hospitals; Preston and Northcote Community Hospital, Western Hospital, Maroondah Hospital, Dandenong Hospital
Prospective
62 women with first primary breast cancer who had no clinically obvious metastatic disease; women had completed chemotherapy treatment more than 4 weeks prior to their entry to the study
Examination of the effect of immune status and psychosocial factors on breast cancer survival in a 6.1 to 7.9 year follow-up period
Weihs et al. 2005 [31]
Washington, USA
Prospective
90 (out of the 183 eligible participants) women with invasive breast cancer stages II and III
Examination of the effect of social support on breast cancer survival in an 8 to 9 year follow-up period
Osborne et al. 2005 [32]
USA (the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) tumour registries is supported by the National Cancer Institute and includes registries in selected geographic areas: Detroit, San Francisco/Oakland, Atlanta, Seattle, Los Angeles and San Jose/Monterey, and the States of Connecticut, Iowa, New Mexico, Utah, and Hawaii)
Retrospective
32,268 women aged 65 years and older who were diagnosed with breast cancer of any stage from 1991 to 1995 and were followed over a 3 year period
Examination of the effect of marital status on breast cancer survival in a 3 year follow-up period
Lehto et al. 2006 [33]
Tampere University Hospital Oncology Clinic, Finland
Prospective
101 (out of 102) patients under 72 years of age with localized or regional breast cancer, who were admitted for treatment and/or follow-up to the Tampere University Hospital Oncology Clinic from January to October 1996
Examination of the effect of psychosocial factors on breast cancer survival
Kroenke et al. 2006 [34]
USA
Prospective study, based on the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) of 121,700 USA female nurses (at baseline in 1976, and biennially, participants provided health behaviour and medical history information through mailed questionnaires. A subset (n = 108,170) of these women also responded to social networks questions in 1992, 1996, or 2000
2,835 (out of 3,248) women aged 46 to 71 in 1992 from the Nurses' Health Study, who were diagnosed with stages 1 to 4 breast cancer between 1992 and 2002, without previous diagnosed cancer (except non-melanoma skin cancer) and who responded to social networks questions before diagnosis. Also, 1,753 women similarly diagnosed, without prior cancer, who completed social networks questions 1 to 4 years after diagnosis but before recurrence (defined as a second cancer on a routine NHS follow-up if lung, liver, bone, or brain cancer)
Examination of the effect of social factors on breast cancer survival in a 12 year follow-up period

Falagas et al. Breast Cancer Research 2007 9:R44   doi:10.1186/bcr1744