Breast Cancer and Quality of Life: New publication to appear in Scientific Reports, Nature Publ. Gr.

QUANTIFYING THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN DEPRESSION, SYMPTOMS AND LEVEL OF FUNCTIONING AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON HEALTH RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE IN EARLY BREAST CANCER

The following manuscript was accepted for publication in Scientific Reports - Nature Publishing Group on 25 Jan, 2022. It has been the outcome of a highly fruitful collaboration of the In Silico Oncology and In Silico Medicine Group, Institute of Communication and Computer Systems, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens ( https://lnkd.in/ejrd-zc ) with three Finish Medical Schools and University Hospitals (Helsinki, Turku and Tampere). The work was funded by the European Commission through the running BOUNCE project (https://lnkd.in/edpgVmc ). [Ref: Submission ID 73362d16-0566-48f9-86aa-3d26bd706332]

PAPER TITLE

"A graphical LASSO analysis of global quality of life, sub scales of the EORTC QLQ-C30 instrument and depression in early breast cancer"

CO-AUTHORED BY

Paula Poikonen-Saksela (1*), Eleni Kolokotroni (2*) , Leena Vehmanen (1), Johanna Mattson (1), Georgios Stamatakos (2), Riikka Huovinen (3), Pirkko-Liisa Kellokumpu-Lehtinen (4), Carl Blomqvist (1), Tiina Saarto (1)

SYMBOLS USED

* contributed equally

1 Comprehensive Cancer Center, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

2 In Silico Oncology and In Silico Medicine Group, Institute of Communication and Computer Systems, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens,

Athens, Greece

3 Department of Oncology, Turku University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.

4 Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University and Research, Development and Innovation Center, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to (a) investigate the interplay between depression, symptoms and level of functioning, and (b) understand the paths through which they influence health related quality of life (QOL) during the first year of rehabilitation period of early breast cancer. A network analysis method was used.

CONCLUSIONS: The graphical LASSO network analysis revealed that scales related to fatigue and emotional health had the strongest associations to the EORTC QLQ-C30 gQOL score. When we plan interventions for patients with impaired QOL it is important to consider both psychological support and interventions that improve fatigue and physical function like exercise. Trial registration: https://lnkd.in/ddcpFvei (identifier number NCT00639210)

KEYWORDS: Breast cancer, quality of life

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