& de Haes, 2000; Shimozuma, Ganz, Peterson, & Hirji, 1999) have examined QOL issues during and shortly after treatment, but far less research has been conducted to examine QOL in breast cancer survivors 5 or more years after remission.
QOL research is especially important in the area of breast cancer survivorship, not only because there are so many survivors, but also because most patients receive some form of adjuvant therapy in addition to surgery and because of the increasing timelines for certain therapies (such as hormonal treatments), which means that women are often taking some treatment for years. In addition, the long natural history of the disease makes treatment outcomes uncertain as to whether a patient is ever cured