OBJECTIVES:~Determine whether telephone counseling delivered by breast cancer survivors enhances the well-being of women with recurrent breast cancer.~Determine the impact of sociodemographic, clinical, and psychosocial predictors of well-being in these patients.~Determine the changes in well-being over time since disease recurrence in these patients.~OUTLINE: This is a randomized, multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to age (under 50 vs 50 and over), time since initial diagnosis (less than 2 years vs 2 years or more), and recurrence site (soft tissue without bone vs soft tissue with bone vs visceral). Patients are randomized to one of two study arms.~Arm I (control arm): Patients receive the standard level of support by continuing to use existing resources. Patients receive written materials from the counseling group at 6 months.~Arm II (intervention arm): Patients receive weekly telephone counseling sessions by breast cancer survivors over 4 weeks for a total of 4-8 sessions. Patients receive written materials from the counseling group after the first session.~In both arms, quality of life is assessed at baseline and at 3 and 6 months.~PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 300 patients (150 per study arm) will be accrued for this study within 30 months.
RATIONALE: Telephone counseling by breast cancer survivors may enhance the well-being and quality of life of women who have recurrent breast cancer.~PURPOSE: Randomized clinical trial to study the effectiveness of telephone counseling by breast cancer survivors on the well-being of women who have recurrent breast cancer.