December 2020 - 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.