Psychological and Social Aspects of Breast Cancer

In delivering care for breast cancer patients today, it is expected that the health-care team will carefully evaluate the tumor pathology, biomarkers, extent of disease, and other medical aspects of the woman’s condition, to facilitate specific recommendations for oncologic management. This has been increasingly true in the past decade, as the understanding of the molecular pathology of breast cancer has increased and treatments have become more tailored.

In the past 50 years, breast cancer has been transformed from a disease in which all women were treated with a radical and disfiguring surgical procedure that amputated the breast, removed pectoral muscles, and included an extensive axillary dissection. Now, for the majority of women, it is usually managed with only minimal removal of breast tissue and sampling of a few axillary nodes. During this same period of time, women with breast cancer have become increasingly involved in treatment decision-making, and have made it clear that they have need for attention to the psychological and social aspects of their care, in addition to the targeted treatment of their tumors.[1]

This was not always the case, and we must be grateful to the pioneering work of Dr. Martin Abeloff and his colleagues, who more than 3 decades ago recognized the intimate relationship between the psychological and social impact of cancer and its treatments on patients’ lives (see Table 1). In his passing, many tributes noted Marty’s important contributions to oncology, as a pioneer in the treatment of breast cancer and as the leader of a major cancer center. The one that caught my attention noted remarks he made at a Johns Hopkins event in the year before his death, where he is reported to have said, “Therapies have been lengthy, toxic, and disfiguring, adding to the amount of suffering that a patient and family endures. You simply can’t treat cancer without paying attention to the psychological and social aspects of the disease.”

To this end, I review what we have learned about the psychological and social aspects of breast cancer during Dr. Abeloff’s distinguished career, and how leaders such as he have promoted the integration of psychosocial services into the standard care of oncology patients through their words and their actions.