Table 9.

Associations between biomarkers and lymphedema symptom classes at 8 weeks post-surgery

Biomarkers pg/mL	Low symptom class	Moderate symptom class	Severe symptom class	p value
Mean Ln(IL1-α) levels
Pre-surgery	0.95 (1.76)	− 0.25 (1.62)	− 1.92 (1.69)	0.0012; A>C
8 weeks post-surgery	0.20 (1.45)	− 0.46 (1.35)	− 1.90 (1.63)	0.0079; A>C
12 months post-surgery	− 1.01 (1.86)	− 0.97 (0.90)	− 1.94 (0.79)	0.5432
Mean Ln(IL-4) levels
Pre-surgery	− 3.48 (0.92)	− 3.33 (1.01)	− 2.83 (1.31)	0.0525
8 weeks post-surgery	− 3.46 (1.01)	− 3.42(1.08)	− 2.85 (1.21)	0.0747
12 months post-surgery	− 3.31 (1.41)	− 3.63 (0.96)	− 2.99 (1.54)	0.2226
Mean Ln(IL-6) levels
Pre-surgery	0.12* (1.32)	0.28* (1.52)	1.15 (1.79)	0.0168; A<C
4–8 weeks post-surgery	0.38* (1.34)	0.66* (1.51)	1.17 (1.67)	0.0835
12 months post-surgery	0.30* (1.46)	0.45* (1.68)	0.78 (1.94)	0.4838
Mean Ln(IL-8) levels
Pre-surgery	2.39 (0.99)	2.11 (1.08)	1.63 (1.78)	0.0334; A>C
4–8 weeks post-surgery	2.36(1.15)	2.04 (1.18)	1.98 (1.79)	0.3358
12 months post-surgery	2.45 (1.04)	2.18 (1.23)	2.09 (1.19)	0.3171
Mean Ln(IL-10) levels
Pre-surgery	− 1.38 (0.66)	−1.49 (0.61)	− 1.61 (1.39)	0.5250
4–8 weeks post-surgery	− 1.40 (0.80)	−1.56 (0.84)	− 1.60 (1.39)	0.5966
12 months post-surgery	− 1.25 (0.94)	−1.50 (0.51)	− 1.01 (1.06)	0.1060
Mean Ln(IL-13) levels
Pre-surgery	− 1.07 (1.19)	−1.05 (1.16)	− 1.75 (1.33)	0.2814
4–8 weeks post-surgery	1.46 (1.34)	−1.95 (2.11)	− 2.21 (1.88)	0.4162
12 months post-surgery	− 1.04 (1.58)	− 0.67 (1.79)	− 1.41 (1.72)	0.4407
Mean Ln(VEGF) levels
Pre-surgery	4.54** (0.62)	4.75* (0.78)	4.90*** (0.71)	0.0681
8 weeks post-surgery	4.50** (0.65)	4.73* (0.78)	4.96*** (0.80)	0.0290; A< C
12 months post-surgery	4.27** (0.83)	4.56* (0.78)	4.59*** (0.81)	0.1130
Mean Ln(VEGFC) levels
Pre-surgery	6.09** (0.44)	6.03* (0.56)	6.12 (0.47)	0.6978
4–8 weeks post-surgery	5.88** (0.50)	5.89* (0.67)	6.04 (0.49)	0.4847
12 months post-surgery	5.93** (0.52)	5.97* (0.37)	5.92 (0.53)	0.8746
Mean Ln(VEGFD) levels
Pre-surgery	7.34*** (0.62)	7.26*** (0.54)	7.30* (0.48)	0.7835
4–8 weeks post-surgery	6.88*** (0.44)	6.76*** (0.40)	6.98* (0.51)	0.1380
12 months post-surgery	7.03*** (0.63)	6.95*** (0.54)	7.18* (0.53)	0.3228
Mean Ln(TNF-α) levels
Pre-surgery	0.65*** (0.40)	0.55*** (0.40)	0.49 (1.20)	0.5697
4–8 weeks post-surgery	0.81*** (0.56)	0.85*** (0.35)	0.73 (0.96)	0.7381
12 months post-surgery	0.79*** (0.44)	0.75*** (0.38)	0.67 (0.43)	0.5138

A (low), B (moderate), and C (severe) symptom class pairwise differences between the three classes with a Bonferroni correction at the 5% alpha level

^*p < 0.05

^**p <0.01

^***p < 0.001 – repeated measures ANOVA over the three time points show changes over time