[Patients' experience of breast cancer treatment].

Medical treatments including chemotherapy, endocrine therapy, and antibody therapy effectively reduce the risk of recurrence after breast cancer and are also used against metastatic disease. This article reviews patients' experience of these treatments. Common side effects of chemotherapy include hair loss, nausea, hot flushes, mucositis, fatigue, and cognitive side effects. Overall quality of life, social relations, and sexuality may also be affected. Endocrine therapies are characterised by hot flushes, vaginal dryness, arthralgias, and reduced libido.