Risk Factors Associated With Early Onset Of Ipsilateral Arm Lymphedema In Postoperative Breast Cancer Patients Treated With Radiation Therapy

Objective : The objective of this study is to analyze the risk factors associated with early onset of ipsilateral arm lymphedema(LE)in postoperative breast cancer patients treated with radiotherapy.Methods:We used the circumference measurement method to evaluate the onset of ipsilateral arm lymphedema in 245 cases of breast cancer patients from time of the initiation of adjvant radiotherapy to 12 th month post-radiation.We further analyzed the correlation of early onset of ipsilateral arm lymphedema with age,body weight index(BMI),underlying diseases,TNM stage,molecular subtypes,number of dissected axillarylymph node(ALN),chemotherapy regimen and radiation field setting.Results: 1.42 patients suffered ipslateral arm lymphedema from time of the initiation of radiotherapy to 12 th month post-radiation.2.The differences of incidence rates of early onset of arm LE in patients of different age,T and N stages,number of dissected ALN groups and settings of radiation field were statistically significant.3.The differences of incidence rates of early onset of arm lymphedema in patients of different BMI groups,with or without fundamental diseases,different breast surgery types and different chemotherapy regimen groups were not statistically significant.4.In the multivariate analysis,the number of dissected axillary lymphnode(ALN)﹥15 and regional lymph node radiation were statistically relevant to the early onset of lymphedema in breast cancer patients.5.In the multivariate analysis,age,T and N stages were not significantly relevant to early onset of lymphedema in breast cancer patients.Conclusion: The number of dissected ALN﹥15 and regional lymphnode radiation are independent risk factors for the early onset of arm lymphedema in post-operative breast cancer patients.Post-operative breast cancer patients having the number of dissected ALN﹥15 and regional lymphnode radiation need to be frequently inspected for arm edema because of the high BCRL incidence rate.