The Role of Work in Breast Cancer Patients 1333
requiring long-term follow-up care [1,2]. The risk of dis-
ease recurrence peaks during the first 5 years after pri-
mary therapy, but may continue for up to 30 years after
that. Work plays an important role in the psychological
treatment for many patients. As a result, breast cancer is
increasingly viewed as a chronic illness [9-11]. Our cul-
ture continues to perpetuate the healthy subject view that
an individual with cancer is somehow now defective.
Work intervention has been found to have significant
positive effects on functional capacity and physical func-
tioning, fatigue, body image, psychological adjustment,
sleep problems and overall health and quality of life [12-
16]. In our study, the comparison between breast cancer
survivors, breast cancer at diagnosis, and healthy subjects
does not differ significantly in overall job satisfaction.
Job satisfaction was often stated as a strong motivator for
social status and for social contacts. Changes in the life
of the person with cancer (e.g. being away from work or
not being able to do the usual roles at home) may affect
the person’s self-esteem [2]. Yet employers continue to
perceive cancer survivors as poor risks for advancement
and cancer survivors are at high risk for job loss. A limi-
tation of this study was the small number of included
subjects. Understanding job problems associated with
cancer can provide relevant information regarding poten-
tial treatment and psychological support in breast cancer
survivors. More systematic investigation is needed vary-
ing the dimensions of activity explored in this study.
5. Acknowledgements
GM was supported by the International PhD programme
in Neuropharmacology, University of Catania. The au-
thors declare that they have no competing interests.
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