Prevalence of unilateral arm lymphedema among breast cancer patients one year after completing treatment at Cancer Diseases Hospital in Lusaka

Background. Breast cancer diagnosis is a potential life-threatening event associated with significant distress. The present study aimed to identify the prevalence of posttraumatic stress and its association with clinical and social factors in early breast cancer patients and one year after surgery. Materials and methods. Four hundred twenty one newly diagnosed breast cancer patients completed three questionnaires: Impact of Event Scale – revised (IES-R), Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II), Vrana & Lauterbach Traumatic Events Scale-Civilian (TEQ). Women were questioned before surgery and one year later. Patients were 18–80 years old resident Lithuanian women with histologically confirmed breast cancer and no history of other cancers. Additional requirements were as follows: ability to read Lithuanian and being capable of completing a questionnaire. Results. 51.5% of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients had from moderate to severe symptoms of PTSD (score average of IES-R ≥ 1.5). After one year it decreased and there were 33.5% of patients who had symptoms of PTSD. The scores of all subscales were decreased a bit as well. Immediately after statement of diagnosis, PTSD correlated with sadness, often cry and earlier traumatic experience. One year later, PTSD correlated with poor self perception, sadness and traumatic experience during this year. Pessimistic mood, lack of energy, difficulties to concentrate were significant to breast cancer patients. Conclusions. A significant number of breast cancer patients suffers from PTSD symptoms. After one year, the amount of patients suffering from PTSD decreased almost twice. Depression and traumatic experience are the predictors of PTSD. The findings show that early evaluation of psychoemotional needs of breast cancer patients is necessary and early interventions are meaningful.

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Chronic adverse effects after axillary lymphadenectomy in breast cancer patients after weaker and stronger postoperative analgesia: Results of a prospective double-blind randomized study.

Journal of Clinical Oncology ◽

10.1200/jco.2019.37.15_suppl.e23066 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 37 (15_suppl) ◽

pp. e23066-e23066

Author(s):

Nikola Besic ◽

Jaka Smrekar ◽

Branka Strazisar

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Chronic Pain ◽

Neuropathic Pain ◽

Adverse Effects ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Postoperative Analgesia ◽

Randomized Study ◽

Breast Cancer Patients ◽

Axillary Lymphadenectomy ◽

One Year

e23066 Background: Tramadol is commonly used for pain treatment, but it is not known if stronger postoperative analgesia has an effect on chronic adverse effects in breast cancer patients. The aim of this study was to compare the rate of chronic adverse effects after weaker and stronger postoperative analgesia. Methods: A prospective double-blind randomized study included 118 breast cancer patients receiving tramadol for pain relief after axillary lymphadenectomy from 2015 to 2018 (Study EUDRA CT: 2015-000992-28). All patients used one of two analgesic regimens for 4 weeks after lymphadenectomy. Patients with larger dose received 75/650 mg of tramadol with paracetamol every 8 hours and a group with lower dose received 37.5/325 mg of tramadol with paracetamol every 8 hours. All patients received for four weeks twice daily naproxen sodium 550 mg and once a day pantoprazole 20 mg. One year after surgery patients were evaluated for the presence of neuropathic pain, chronic pain, arm symptoms and lymphedema. The association between dose of tramadol and chronic postoperative adverse effects was evaluated using asymptotic z-test and chi-square test. Results: Neuropathic pain was more common one year in comparison to one month after lymphadenectomy (p = 0.0001). There was a trend for lower rate of neuropathic pain after stronger analgesia in comparison to weaker analgesia (p = 0.058). Chronic pain was present in 18% of patients one year after lymphadenectomy. There was no difference in rate of chronic pain after stronger and weaker postoperative analgesia. Patients had less arm symptoms after stronger analgesia than after weaker analgesia (p = 0.02). Furthermore, there was a trend for lower rate of lymphedema of forearm after stronger analgesia than after lower analgesia (p = 0.078). Conclusions: The patients who received stronger postoperative analgesia had a statistical trend for less often neuropathic pain in comparison to patients who received weaker analgesia. The patients who received stronger postoperative analgesia had less arm symptoms and better quality of life in comparison to patients who received weaker analgesia. Clinical trial information: EudraCT 2015-000992-28.

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Risk Factors for Arm Lymphedema in a Cohort of Breast Cancer Patients Followed up for 10 Years

Breast Care ◽

10.1159/000442489 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 45-50 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

René Aloisio da Costa Vieira ◽

Allini Mafra da Costa ◽

Josue Lopes de Souza ◽

Rafael Richieri Coelho ◽

Cleyton Zanardo de Oliveira ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Risk Factors ◽

Regression Analysis ◽

Lymph Nodes ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Multivariate Regression ◽

Axillary Dissection ◽

Breast Cancer Patients ◽

Arm Lymphedema

Background: The etiology of lymphedema is multifactorial, and definition criteria of lymphedema, its limitation, and follow-up must be considered in studies related to risk factors. The aim of this study is to evaluate risk factors related to arm lymphedema in a cohort study with a long follow-up. Patients and Methods: The study was performed in 622 breast cancer patients. The main endpoint reported was the presence of clinical lymphedema reported in medical records. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were performed to identify factors related to lymphedema. Results: 66.4% of the patients were submitted to mastectomy, 88.4% to level III axillary lymphadenectomy, 34.9% to radiotherapy in the supraclavicular fossa, and 4.3% to axillary radiotherapy. The mean follow-up was 96.7 months. 45 patients (7.2%) developed lymphedema, of which 82.2% had developed lymphedema at 60 months. Univariate regression analysis showed that supraclavicular radiotherapy, adjuvant/palliative chemotherapy, ≥ 15 lymph nodes dissected, and axillary surgery increase the lymphedema rate by 1.87, 2.28, 2.03, and 6.17, respectively. Adjusted multivariate regression analysis showed that the combination of axillary dissection and number of lymph nodes dissected was the main factor related to lymphedema (p = 0.017). Conclusion: In the pre-sentinel era, axillary dissection and the number of lymph nodes resected are related to 10-year lymphedema.

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Cognitive function in postmenopausal breast cancer patients one year after completing adjuvant endocrine therapy with letrozole and/or tamoxifen in the BIG 1-98 trial

Breast Cancer Research and Treatment ◽

10.1007/s10549-010-1235-y ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 126 (1) ◽

pp. 221-226 ◽

Cited By ~ 46

Author(s):

Kelly-Anne Phillips ◽

Julie Aldridge ◽

Karin Ribi ◽

Zhuoxin Sun ◽

Alastair Thompson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Endocrine Therapy ◽

Postmenopausal Breast Cancer ◽

Adjuvant Endocrine Therapy ◽

Breast Cancer Patients ◽

One Year

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Preventive Effect of Cryotherapy on Persistent Chemotherapy-induced Peripheral Neuropathy After Completion of Weekly Paclitaxel Therapy for Breast Cancer

10.21203/rs.3.rs-417227/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Hideo Shigematsu ◽

Yuri Kimura ◽

Tomoko Itagaki ◽

Daisuke Yasui

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Peripheral Neuropathy ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Weekly Paclitaxel ◽

Control Group ◽

Lower Grade ◽

Breast Cancer Patients ◽

Preventive Effect ◽

One Year ◽

Paclitaxel Treatment

Abstract BackgroundChemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is an important adverse event of taxane-based chemotherapy, which can persist in a substantial proportion of patients for years. Cryotherapy therapy is shown to be effective in prevention of CIPN during chemotherapy, but its protective effect on persistent CIPN has not been reported. MethodsCases enrolled in a randomized trial investigating the preventive effect of cryotherapy on weekly paclitaxel-induced CIPN in breast cancer patients (UMIN000034966) were evaluated for Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Neurotoxicity (FACT-NTX) score and Patient Neurotoxicity Questionnaire (PNQ) at more than one year after completion of weekly paclitaxel. ResultsThirty-eight cases were evaluated for persistent CIPN with a median 2.3 (1.3-3.1) years after completion of weekly paclitaxel. The incidence of a significant decrease in FACT-NTX scores was numerically lower in the cryotherapy group compared with the control group (15.8% vs. 36.8%, p = 0.13). There was also a lower grade of PNQ sensory (p = 0.02) and motor (p = 0.17) in the cryotherapy group compared with the control group. ConclusionIn breast cancer patients treated with weekly paclitaxel, cryotherapy resulted in a numerical decrease in the incidence of persistent CIPN at more than one year after completion of weekly paclitaxel treatment.

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