Lymphedema and Skeletal Events in Older Patients Receiving Adjuvant Hormonal and Radiotherarpy in Breast Cancer

In the United States, it is estimated that there are more than 3.8 million living women has a history of invasive breast cancer, and 268,600 women will be newly diagnosed in 2019. Sixty-four percent of breast cancer survivors (more than 2.4 million women) are ≥ 65 years, whereas 7% are aged younger than 50 years 1.

The most common treatment of early stage (stage I or II) breast cancer is breast-conserving surgery (BCS) with adjuvant radiation therapy (49%) and 34% of patients undergo mastectomy. In contrary, more than two-thirds (68%) of patients with stage III disease undergo mastectomy and most of them receive adjuvant chemotherapy 2.

Some of the most debilitating morbidity after surgery and radiotherapy for breast cancer is related to treatment of the axilla. This includes persistent arm lymphoedema, impaired shoulder mobility and brachial plexopathy. Other exogenous factors have an influence on the risk of radiotherapy-related morbidity as patients' age and obesity 3.

Lymphedema of the arm occurs in 19.9% of women who undergo axillary lymph node dissection and in 5.6% of women who have a sentinel lymph node biopsy 4. Irradiation of the regional lymph nodes may increase the risk, especially among patients receiving axillary lymph node dissection 5.

Early diagnosis of lymphedema is important for optimizing its treatment and preventing its progression 6. Some forms of cancer rehabilitation may reduce the risk and lessen the severity of this condition 7, 8.