Abstract P1-09-24: Oral health-related quality of life in women with early stage breast cancer
Authors: Taichman Linda S , Giannobile William G , Braun Thomas M , Inglehart Marita R , Van Poznak Catherine H 
Published: May 2015

Introduction: Aromatase inhibitors (AI) are a well-established component of the adjuvant therapy in postmenopausal (PM) women with hormone receptor positive (HR+) early breast cancer (BCA). AIs are associated with side effects that may adversely affect the quality of life (Qol). The impact of AIs and on oral health-related QoL (OHRQoL) in women with BCA is unknown. To generate data on the impact of adjuvant AIs on OHRQoL we performed a prospective, longitudinal, cohort study assessing patient reported outcomes.

Methods: PM women with early BCA were eligible if they were on an adjuvant AI for 3 to 12 months. AI patients were recruited from the Breast Medical Oncology Clinic. The Control group consisted of PM women without BCA who were not on AI therapy and were recruited at the time of screening mammography. Study participants provided socio-demographic information and completed questionnaires OHRQoL which included the Michigan Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (MOHRQoL) Scale, and Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) which both measure discomfort, dysfunction and disability resulting from oral problems on a 5 point scale. Presence of saliva status as a measure of oral health was measured by the saliva flow rate. Data was collected at baseline and at 6, 12 and 18 months. The baseline data is presented here. The student t-test and chi-square test were used to analyze outcomes. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to evaluate the correlation between the OHIP-14 and the amount of saliva.

Results: The study met its target accrual of 58 PM women; 29 with BCA on AI and 29 controls. Median time on AIs at study entry was 5.7 months. Demographics were similar regarding age, education, income level, frequency of dental visits, and dental insurance status across both groups. The OHIP-14 score varied by AI use (p=0.02) and duration of AI use (p=0.03) where the lowest poor OHRQOL was found in AI users less than 6 months. Patients receiving AI therapy had significantly lower perception of OHRQoL for the individual OHIP-14 items: "I have had pain in the mouth", "I have had to limit my diet", "I have had painful aching in my mouth", "I have had to limit foods I eat" and "I have felt tense because of problems with my mouth" compared to controls.

Conclusions: This study is the first to report on the OHRQoL among PM women with early BCA using AIs. The baseline data demonstrates a significantly lower OHRQoL in those on AIs compared to controls. Dimensions that were particularly relevant were physical pain, psychological discomfort and physical disability. Analysis of serial time points is ongoing.

Citation Format: Linda S Taichman, William G Giannobile, Thomas M Braun, Marita R Inglehart, Catherine H Van Poznak. Oral health-related quality of life in women with early stage breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Seventh Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2014 Dec 9-13; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(9 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-09-24.