This summary table contains detailed information about research studies. While viewing summary tables offers an informative glimpse at the science behind many breast cancer guidelines and recommendations, they should be viewed with some caution. There are a number of concepts you must understand to be able to successfully read and interpret research tables. To get some background information about understanding research tables, please see How to Read a Research Table.
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Introduction: Social support is the support that women get through interactions with other people, including family members, spiritual advisors and health care providers. While there is growing evidence from prospective cohort studies that social support has a positive impact on quality of life after breast cancer, it remains unclear whether it also has a survival benefit. As shown in Table 50, randomized controlled trials have not showed a benefit of social support on survival among breast cancer survivors. However, the larger prospective studies below suggest better survival among breast cancer survivors with higher levels of social support. The apparent inconsistency between these results may be due to differences in the types of social support studied. Namely, observational prospective studies have tended to study the health benefits of social support received from naturally existing social networks. Randomized trials on the other hand have typically tested the effects of social support received from strangers (e.g. social support groups made up of other cancer survivors). Further studies are needed to know whether there is a difference between these two kinds of social support and breast cancer survival.
Study selection criteria: Available prospective cohort studies.
Study
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Study Population(number of participants)
|
Follow-up (years)
|
Better Survival in Breast Cancer Survivors with the Most Social Support Compared to Those With the Least?
Yes / No
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Prospective cohort studies
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Kroenke et al. [1]
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2,835
|
6
|
Yes
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Reynolds et al. [2]
|
1,011
|
5
|
Yes
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| Phillips et al. [3] |
708 |
8.2 |
No |
Maunsell et al. [4]
|
224
|
7
|
No
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Waxler-Morrison et al. [5]
|
133
|
4
|
Yes
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Lehto et al. [6]
|
102
|
9
|
No
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Giraldi et al. [7]
|
95
|
6
|
No
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Weihs et al. [8]
|
90
|
8-9
|
Yes
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Cousson-Gélie et al. [9]
|
69
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10
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No
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| Osborne et al. [10] |
61
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6-8
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No
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References
1. Kroenke CH, Kubzansky LD, Schernhammer ES, Holmes MD, Kawachi I. Social networks, social support, and survival after breast cancer diagnosis. J Clin Oncol. 24(7):1105-11, 2006.
2. Reynolds P., Boyd PT, Blacklow RS, et al. The relationship between social ties and survival among black and white breast cancer patients. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 3: 253-259, 1994.
3. Phillips KA, Osborne RH, Giles GG, et al. Psychosocial factors and survival of young women with breast cancer: a population-based prospective cohort study. J Clin Oncol. 26(28):4666-71, 2008.
4. Maunsell E, Brisson J, Deschenes L. Social support and survival among women with breast cancer. Cancer. 76(4): 631-637, 1995.
5. Waxler-Morrison N, Hislop TG, Mears B, et al. Effects of social relationships on survival for women with breast cancer: a prospective study. Soc Sci Med. 33(2):177-183, 1991.
6. Lehto U-S, Ojanen M, Dyba T, Aromaa A, Kellokumpu-Lehtinen P. Baseline psychosocial predictors of survival in localised breast cancer. Br J Cancer. 94(9):1245-52, 2006.
7. Giraldi T, Rodani MG, Cartei G, et al. Psychosocial factors and breast cancer: a 6-year Italian follow-up study. Psychother Psychosom. 66: 229-236, 1997.
8. Weihs KL, Simmens SJ, Mizrahi J, Enright TM, Hunt ME, Siegel RS. Dependable social relationships predict overall survival in Stages II and III breast carcinoma patients. J Psychosom Res. 59(5):299-306, 2005.
9. Cousson- Gélie F, Bruchon-Schweitzer M, Dilhuydy JM, Jutand MA. Do anxiety, body image, social support and coping strategies predict survival in breast cancer? A ten-year follow-up study. Psychosomatics. 48(3):211-6, 2007.
10. Osborne RH, Sali A, Aaronson NK, Elsworth GR, Mdzewski B, Sinclair AJ. Immune function and adjustment style: do they predict survival in breast cancer? Psychooncology. 13(3):199-210, 2004.
Updated 09/12/09
