Factors influencing response tolymphedema treatment inpatients with breast cancer-related lymphedema

Purpose In clinical practice, noticeable differencesare seenin patient response to the treatment of breast cancer-related lymphedema. Although some factors influencing response to treatment are mentioned in the literature, there is no sufficient evidence and results are confusing. For this reason, our objective in this study is to identify predictive and response-related factors for response to treatment of breast cancer-related lymphedema. Methods We analyzed data retrospectively from the files of patientswithbreastcancer-relatedlymphedemabetween2006 and2012.Patientdemographics,clinicalvariables,andpatient variables were recorded. Circumference measurements of lymphedemaandhealthyarmswererecorded.Weusedacomputer program (Limb Volumes Professional version 5.0) to transform these values to limb volumes in milliliters. Results The average age of 331 patients was 54.4±10.9. The averagelengthoflymphedematreatmentwas2.92±1.3weeks. A statistically significant positive correlation was found between postoperative weight gain and postoperative duration, number of chemotherapy (CT) cycles, duration of tamoxifen use, and duration of hormonal therapy (p<0.05). There was a statistically significant negative correlation between posttreatment arm volume and activity level, postoperative duration, and postoperative weight gain (p<0.05). Conclusion The treatment methods used for treating breast cancer had no effect on the response to treatment of lymphedema. Weight gain during the treatment of breast cancer is important for both the development of lymphedema and the response to treatment. When treating breast cancer-related lymphedema, the relationship between activity level and postoperative weight gain may provide us guidance in clinical practice.