Research Round-up – December 2020 with Saskia Maass and Dr Annette Berendsen

Dr Kristi Milley spoke to Saskia Maass and Dr Annette Berendsen from the University of Groningen in The Netherlands. Saskia is both a researcher and GP in training. Annette was the Program Leader of Oncology Research in Primary Care at the Department of General Practice at the University of Groningen. 

They recently published a paper in the journal “The Breast” entitled “Symptoms in long-term breast cancer survivors: A cross-sectional study in primary care”

Annette and Saskia highlight that GPs must realise that survivors of breast cancer may experience various long-term symptoms even 10 years after diagnosis. Some symptoms, such as concentration difficultly, forgetfulness and dizziness are significantly increased with a history of breast cancer therapy and while the reason behind these symptoms is not explicitly known – positive assurance and awareness that these symptoms are common among breast cancer survivors is beneficial.  They went on to suggest that for some patients cognitive training for the GP and a symptom-specific approach may be more appropriate.