Loss in working years after a breast cancer diagnosis

Breast cancer can negatively influence working life, but it is unclear how many working years women with breast cancer can expect to lose.

Women diagnosed with breast cancer between 1997 and 2012 were identified in the Breast Cancer Data Base Sweden (N=19 661), together with breast cancer-free comparison women (N=81 303). Using flexible parametric survival modelling, the loss in working years was calculated as the difference in the remaining years in the work force between women with and without breast cancer.

Women aged 50 years at diagnosis with stage I disease lost on average 0.5 years (95% CI, 0.2-0.7) of their remaining working time; the corresponding estimates were 0.9 years (0.5-1.2) in stage II, 2.5 years (1.9-3.1) in stage III and 8.1 years (6.5-9.7) in stage IV. Women with in situ breast cancer did not lose any working years. The strongest treatment determinant was axillary lymph node dissection.

We found a loss in working years not only in late but also in early-stage breast cancer. Although it is reassuring that some groups had no or only a modest work loss, the economic consequences for society are considerable given the large number of women annually diagnosed with breast cancer.