Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 15, 2026

Competing-Risk Nomogram for Predicting Cancer-Specific Survival in Multiple Primary Colorectal Cancer Patients after Surgery
Published on: September 27, 2024
Dependable social relationships predict overall survival in Stages II and III breast carcinoma patients
Karen L Weihs1, Samuel J Simmens, Joan Mizrahi
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA. weihs@email.arizona.edu
Objective:
The effect of support, from dependable non-household relationships, on breast cancer progression was studied using a prospective, longitudinal design.
Methods:
Dependable social support was assessed in women with invasive breast carcinoma Stages II and III within 18 months after diagnosis. Disease outcome was monitored for 8 to 9 years. Cox regression analyses, including the Nottingham Prognostic Index (NPI) score of disease severity, tested the association between the number of dependable support persons and time to death.
Results:
Ninety participants listed between 1 and 16 dependable nonhousehold support persons (mean = 6, S.D. = 4). There were 21 recurrences and 16 deaths from breast cancer at the end of the study. The number of dependable supports predicted decreased mortality [RR = 0.41 (0.21-0.80), P = .01] after controlling for NPI. NPI predicted increased mortality [RR = 1.6 (1.0, 2.4), P = .05].
Conclusions:
For patients with Stages II and III breast cancer, the number of dependable, nonhousehold relationships predicts decreased mortality, after accounting for disease severity.
Related Concept Videos
Cancer Survival Analysis
Social Relationships and Well-Being
Assumptions of Survival Analysis
Relationship Formation
Relationship Growth
Actuarial Approach
Consider the example of a high-risk surgical procedure with significant early-stage mortality. A two-year clinical study is conducted,...