Articles
Authors: C. Cornacchia , S. Dessalvi , G. Santori , F. Canobbio , G. Atzori , F. De Paoli , R. Diaz , S. Franchelli , M. Gipponi , F. Murelli , M. Sparavigna , F. Pitto , A. Fozza , F. Boccardo , D. Friedman , P. Fregatti
Breast-conserving surgery (BCS) is the standard of care for early-stage breast cancer. We retrospectively enrolled 530 patients (mean age: 62.96 ± 12.69 years) undergoing BCS between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2019. During the COVID-19 pandemic, all patients with at least 1 year of follow-up were telephonically asked after surgery to provide clinical signs and symptoms attributable to postoperative breast cancer-related lymphedema of the breast (BCRL-B). Thirty-one (5.8%) patients reported breast edema and were visited to measure the tissue dielectric constant (TDC) and to assess the induration of the skin. There was a difference seen in treatment with lumpectomy + ALND performed more frequently in patients with (29%) than without (12%) BCRL-B. In the subgroup of patients with BCRL-B (n=31), significantly higher values of local total water were calculated in the nine patients who underwent Lump + ALND procedure (1.86 ± 0.48 vs. 1.48 ± 0.38; p = 0.046). Among patients with BCRL-B (n=31), in eight patients (25.8%) tissue induration measured with SkinFibroMeter was >0.100 N, thus suggesting tissue fibrosis. Cumulative survival probability at 1-year after surgery was 0.992. No statistical differences in 1-year survival after surgery were found for type of surgery (p = 0.890) or absence/presence of BCRL-B (p = 0.480). In univariate logistic regression, only lumpectomy + ALND surgery (p = 0.009) and any subsequent axillary lymph node removal surgery (p = 0.003) were associated with BCRL-B. Both of these variables were also found to be statistically significant in the multivariate regression model. Further prospective research is warranted to analyze potentential predictors of BCRL-B and to reduce/ prevent this complication.
Keywords: breast edema, lymphedema, breast-conserving surgery, breast-conserving surgery, breast cancer
How to Cite: Cornacchia, C. , Dessalvi, S. , Santori, G. , Canobbio, F. , Atzori, G. , De Paoli, F. , Diaz, R. , Franchelli, S. , Gipponi, M. , Murelli, F. , Sparavigna, M. , Pitto, F. , Fozza, A. , Boccardo, F. , Friedman, D. & Fregatti, P. (2023) “BREAST EDEMA AFTER CONSERVATIVE SURGERY FOR EARLY-STAGE BREAST CANCER: A RETROSPECTIVE SINGLE-CENTER ASSESSMENT OF RISK FACTORS”, Lymphology. 55(4). doi: https://doi.org/10.2458/lymph.5738
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