Lymfoedema of the upper extremity after breast cancer therapy.
Authors:
V. Bella
Authors‘ workplace:
Mamologické oddelenie, Onkologický ústav sv. Alžbety, Bratislava, Slovensko
Published in:
Prakt Gyn 2009; 13(3): 158-160
Overview
The number of newly diagnosed female patients with breast cancer continually increases in the world, except to slightly reduced incidence in some western countries. In pursuance of early diagnostics and many new therapeutic procedures in breast cancer the prevalence of women increases. One of eventual post‑therapeutic complications of this disease is the upper limb lymphedema after the surgical and/without radiotherapeutic treatment. In our study we investigated the occurrence of the upper limb lymphedema in women with the minimum period after one year after the breast cancer surgical therapy. The women patients have been examined in the Cancer-Mammologic department of St. Elizabeth Cancer Institute in Bratislava, during a period from 1.2.2008 to 31.12.2009. We have examined 1 947 women. We registered 23% occurrence of upper limb lymphedema after the surgical therapy of breast cancer with/without radiotherapy in women for a period of one to thirty years after operation. The occurrence of lymphedema was as early as after one year after therapy, even after many years after therapy, it mainly occurred in women after twenty to thirty years after breast cancer operation.
Key words:
lymphedema – incidence – breast cancer
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Labels
Paediatric gynaecology Gynaecology and obstetrics Reproduction medicineArticle was published in
Practical Gynecology
2009 Issue 3
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