Table 2.
Association between breast cancer related lymphoedema and other clinicopathologic variables
| BCRL | No BCRL | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| (n = 62) | (n = 270) | p-value | |
| Side, left n (%) | 41 (66.1) | 130 (48.2) | 0.0106 |
| Histological type, n (%) | 0.1734 | ||
| NST | 55 (88.7) | 220 (81.5) | |
| Others | 7 (11.3) | 50 (18.5) | |
| T-staging, n (%)a | 0.5922 | ||
| T1 | 39 (62.9) | 157 (58.2) | |
| T2 | 19 (30.7) | 80 (29.6) | |
| T3 | 2 (3.2) | 10 (3.7) | |
| T4 | 2 (3.2) | 23 (8.5) | |
| N, n (%)b | 0.1052 | ||
| N1 | 33 (53.2) | 176 (65.2) | |
| N2 | 13 (21.0) | 53 (19.6) | |
| N3 | 16 (25.8) | 41 (15.2) | |
| G, n (%)c | 0.6725 | ||
| 1 | 3 (4.8) | 22 (8.2) | |
| 2 | 33 (53.2) | 139 (51.5) | |
| 3 | 26 (41.9) | 109 (40.4) | |
| ER positive, n (%) | 53 (85.5) | 241 (89.3) | 0.3998 |
| PR positive, n (%) | 49 (79.0) | 226 (83.7) | 0.3791 |
| HER2 positive, n (%)d | 9 (14.5) | 22 (8.2) | 0.1202 |
| Ki67 positive, n (%)e | 28 (45.2) | 102 (37.8) | 0.2828 |
| Molecular subtype, n (%) | 0.6807 | ||
| Luminal A | 30 (48.4) | 147 (54.4) | |
| Luminal B (HER2+) | 5 (8.1) | 12 (4.4) | |
| Luminal B (HER2-) | 18 (29.0) | 82 (30.4) | |
| HER2-type | 3 (4.8) | 10 (3.7) | |
| Basal | 6 (9.7) | 19 (7.0) | |
| ENE, n (%) | 46 (74.2) | 166 (61.5) | 0.0603 |
| N. metastatic lymph., median (Q1, Q3) | 3 (1, 7) | 2 (1, 5) | 0.0470 |
| Total n. lymph. Evaluated, median (Q1, Q3) | 23 (19, 30) | 23 (18, 29) | 0.4557 |
| % lymph. Metastatic, median (Q1, Q3) | 11.1 (5.6, 31.8) | 9.5 (4.5, 25) | 0.2062 |
| LVI, n (%) | 29 (46.8) | 80 (29.6) | 0.0095 |
Abbreviations: BCRL breast cancer related lymphoedema, NST invasive breast cancer of no special type, ER estrogen receptor, HER2 human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, ENE extranodal extension, LVI lymphovascular invasion
aTumor dimension (T) according to TNM classification was as follows: T1, Tumor ≤20 mm in greatest dimension; T2, Tumor > 20 mm but ≤50 mm in greatest dimension; T3, Tumor > 50 mm in greatest dimension; T4, Tumor of any size with direct extension to the chest wall and/or to the skin (ulceration or skin nodules)
bPathologic lymph node status (pN) according to TNM classification was as follows: pN0, negative; pN1, 1 to 3 positive lymph nodes; pN2, metastases in 4–9 axillary lymph nodes; pN3, metastases in ≥10 axillary lymph nodes
cGrading was established using the Nottingham histologic grading system
dHER2 status was assessed using immunochemistry and chromogenic in-situ hybridization in borderline cases
ePositivity for Ki67 was defined as ≥10%