Posttraumatic stress disorder in breast cancer patients following autologous bone marrow transplantation or conventional cancer treatments

• Published in: Behaviour research and therapy Vol. 38; no. 10; pp. 1015 - 1027
• Main Authors: Mundy, Elizabeth A., Blanchard, Edward B., Cirenza, Emanuel, Gargiulo, Janet, Maloy, Barbara, Blanchard, Christina G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01-10-2000; Elsevier Science; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Anxiety disorders. Neuroses; Biological and medical sciences; Bone marrow; Bone Marrow Transplantation - psychology; Breast cancer; Breast Neoplasms - diagnosis; Breast Neoplasms - psychology; Breast Neoplasms - therapy; Combined Modality Therapy; Depressive Disorder, Major - diagnosis; Depressive Disorder, Major - psychology; Female; Female genital diseases; Follow-Up Studies; Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics; Humans; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Patients; Personality Assessment; Post traumatic stress disorder; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Sick Role; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - diagnosis; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - psychology; Transplants & implants; Tumors; Women; Human; Mammary gland diseases; Posttraumatic syndrome; Anxiety disorder; Risk factor; Bone marrow; Female; Transplantation; Mammary gland; Malignant tumor; Stress
• DOI: 10.1016/S0005-7967(99)00144-8
• EISSN: 1873-622X
• ISSN: 0005-7967

We assessed 17 women who had undergone autologous bone marrow transplants (BMT) for their breast cancer and 20 other women who had been treated for breast cancer (but not with BMT) by structured clinical interviews examining each stage of the breast cancer experience (e.g. initial diagnosis, initial treatment, recurrence of cancer (if applicable) and BMT (if applicable)) and at follow-up points; 3, 6 and 12 months (if applicable) posttreatment. The two groups did not differ on incidence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder (MDD) or generalized anxiety disorder at any stage. We found a high rate of PTSD over the cancer experience, 35% for the combined sample, with cancer diagnosis being the most likely point for developing PTSD, 27% for the combined sample. None of the 17 women who had undergone BMT developed PTSD as a result of the treatment.