Factors Associated with Arm Swelling after Breast Cancer Surgery

Purpose: As life expectancy improves for women with breast cancer, more women will be liv-ing with symptoms of lymphedema. This study reports the incidence of arm or hand swelling and associated risk factors in women with invasive breast cancer following surgery. Methods: Data were obtained from baseline and follow-up interviews of women with in-vasive breast cancer (n 145), and mammography and pathology records. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate the probability of developing arm or hand swelling over time. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify risk fac-tors for arm or hand swelling. Results: Of women in this study, 38 % self-reported arm or hand swelling. There was a sig-nificantly increased risk of arm swelling if women were under 50 years of age, had axillary node dissection, received chemotherapy, worked outside the home, and had a high house-hold income. There was no association of body weight with swelling. A significantly de-creased risk of arm swelling was found in women who were on treatment for high blood pres-sure. After adjustment for nodal dissection, only age had a significant independent effect. Conclusions: Our study highlights two important areas of future research that could reduce the incidence of lymphedema. There is a need to better understand the role that treatment for high blood pressure may play in protecting women from arm edema. Second, the potential effect of weight as a modifiable lymphedema risk factor needs to be studied in more detail in light of the conflicting results of different studies. 92