Lymphedema

Nearly one-third of older women who survived colorectal, endometrial or ovarian cancer reported lower extremity lymphedema, according to data published in JAMA Network Open.

Lymphedema — swelling in the limbs or trunk caused by excess fluid that can arise following cancer treatment — can be extremely detrimental to survivors’ quality of life.

Lymphedema occurs in around 20% of breast cancer survivors depending on the treatment course, but growing knowledge of risk factors and the importance of early screening can improve these odds.

Black and Hispanic women appeared more likely than white women to develop breast cancer-related lymphedema, according to study results presented at San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

A home-based exercise and/or weight loss intervention failed to improve breast cancer-related lymphedema outcomes among breast cancer survivors with overweight, according to results from the WISER Survivor randomized trial published in JAMA Oncology.

ASCO 2011 Breast Cancer Symposium