How does breast cancer affect a woman's quality of life?

Varies widely: Depends on the stage at time of diagnosis. Early stage cancer could have little affect, and advanced later stages can reduce a woman;s life expectancy. Later stage disease will need surgery, chemotherapy, and possible radiation therapy.

May or may not: Most women who have early stage breast cancer do very well with modern treatments and are in fact cured and live normal lives. But there are consequences such as loss of breast which can cause image problems. For this reason reconstruction of breast is commonly recommended & can be done at the time of mastectomy. Recurrence of breast cancer does occur in 15-20% of women comromising their quality.