The Symptom Burden in Breast Cancer Survivors

Breast cancer survivors continue to experience an array of physical, psychological and cognitive symptoms following the completion of their treatment. However, there is a lack of understanding of symptom burden during an extended and long-term survivorship. The present review attempts to provide an overview of conceptual and contextual understanding of symptom burden that women with breast cancer may experience following treatment completion. We will focus on six commonly reported symptoms or symptom clusters in post-treatment breast cancer survivors, including menopausal symptoms, lymphoedema, fatigue, depression, sleep disturbance and cognitive dysfunction. To identify and manage the symptom burden effectively, further investigation is required into individual symptoms and their relationship to others.