Table 3.

Relative Risk of Lymphedema by Breast Cancer Treatment and Disease Factors Among Subjects Diagnosed with Breast Cancer in Iowa, 2004

	Lymphedema		Adjusted
	Yes	No	RR	CI
Stage
Stage I	42 (42.0)	235 (58.2)	Ref *
Stage II	38 (38.0)	139 (34.4)	1.13	0.66, 1.92
Stage III	20 (20.0)	30 (7.4)	2.23	1.09, 4.55
Trend RR comparing Stage III to Stage I			1.99	0.99, 3.98
Primary tumor size (mm)
0–9	15 (15.8)	106 (26.6)	Ref †
10–14	17 (17.9)	88 (22.1)	1.26	0.57, 2.75
15–29	39 (41.1)	158 (39.6)	1.60	0.78, 3.34
30+	24 (25.3)	47 (11.8)	2.76	1.16, 6.58
Trend RR comparing 30+ to 0–9			2.65	1.14, 6.13
Surgery
Lumpectomy	54 (52.9)	243 (58.1)	Ref ‡
Mastectomy	13 (12.8)	56 (13.4)	1.09	0.39, 3.04
Modified radical mastectomy	35 (34.3)	119 (28.5)	1.53	0.75, 3.15
# of lymph node removed
0–2	17 (16.8)	126 (30.4)	Ref *
3–6	21 (20.8)	108 (26.0)	1.10	0.50, 2.39
7–10	18 (17.8)	57 (13.73)	1.45	0.56, 3.78
>10	45 (44.6)	124 (29.9)	1.60	0.66, 3.84
Trend RR comparing >10 to 0–2			1.64	0.74, 3.61
Positive nodes
No	54 (52.9)	300 (73.5)	Ref *
Yes	48 (47.1)	108(26.5)	1.88	1.13, 3.13
Radiation to the axilla§
No	60 (65.2)	272 (61.8)	Ref *
Yes	32 (34.8)	107 (28.2)	1.10	0.62, 1.93
Chemotherapy
No	40 (40.0)	208 (49.9)	Ref *
Yes	60 (60.0)	209 (50.1)	1.01	0.61, 1.67
Hormones therapy
No	47 (47.0)	183 (44.6)	Ref *
Yes	53 (53.0)	227 (55.4)	0.92	0.58, 1.46

RR= relative risk; CI = confidence interval; BMI= body mass index

Note: Total number of subjects may not add up to 522 due to missing data

^*Adjusted for age, axillary dissection, any radiation, and any radiation x axillary dissection

^†Adjusted for age, axillary dissection, chemotherapy, number of lymph nodes removed, any radiation, and any radiation x axillary dissection

^‡Adjusted for age, any radiation to axilla, axillary dissection, any radiation, and any radiation x axillary dissection

^§Among subjects who received radiation therapy