Psychological aspects of primary radiation therapy for breast carcinoma*

Fifty-one patients who received primary radiation therapy as an alternative to radical mastectomy for the treatment of early breast cancer were studied in depth. They chose radiation therapy to avoid the disfigurement, difficulty with emotional adjustment, and adverse effects on their sexual lives they anticipated from mastectomy. Most of these women (median age 49) were leading active sexual lives in which their breasts play an important role. Their breasts also played an important role in enabling them to feel feminine, attractive, and sexually desirable. Forty-three percent of the patients who had had suicidal ideation because of feelings about breast cancer no longer were troubled by suicidal thoughts after learning about primary radiation therapy and the fact that they would not have to have a mastectomy. Recent reports that radiation therapy causes more psychic distress than other forms of cancer treatment appear to be incorrect in this particular population.