Table 1.
Distribution of breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) following surgery among women with breast cancer (stage I-III) in the Carolina Breast Cancer Study (Phase 3, diagnosis years 2008-2013)
| Time of Assessment | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristics | Baseline N=2645 |
Two-year follow-up N=2273 |
Seven-year follow-up N=1654 |
|
| Cumulative cases of BCRL | 180 | 477 | 552 | |
| Point prevalence of ever having BCRL, n (% of total population) | 180 (6.8%) | 452 (19.9%) | 393 (23.8%) | |
| Location; n (%)a |
Arm | 159 (88.3%) | 375 (90.1%) | 298 (93.1%) |
| Trunk | 43 (23.9%) | 57 (13.7%) | 44 (13.7%) | |
| Breast | 28 (15.6%) | 112 (26.9%) | 64 (20.0%) | |
| Arm, trunk AND breast | 7 (3.9%) | 34 (8.2%) | 16 (5.0%) | |
| Dominant side | 82 (45.6%) | 209 (50.2%) | 149 (46.6%) | |
| Non-dominant side | 100 (55.6%) | 220 (52.9%) | 187 (58.4%) | |
| Diagnosis by provider; n (%)b |
Medical doctor | 127 (70.6%) | 303 (73.2%) | 247 (77.2%) |
| Nurse | 7 (3.9%) | 27 (6.5%) | 20 (6.2%) | |
| Physical therapist | 30 (16.7%) | 145 (35.0%) | 92 (28.7%) | |
| Other | 20 (11.1%) | 21 (5.1%) | 11 (3.4%) | |
| Episodic nature; n (%)c |
Single episode | 12 (6.7%) | 70 (17.0%) | 62 (19.6%) |
| Recurrent (comes and goes) | 77 (42.8%) | 155 (37.7%) | 126 (39.7%) | |
| Persistent | 91 (50.6%) | 186 (45.3%) | 129 (40.7%) | |
a.
Participants could report BCRL in multiple body parts, therefore the percentages do not add up to 100%.
b.
Participants could respond yes to multiple diagnosis providers; therefore the percentages do not sum to 100%. 2 cases at the two-year follow-up did not respond to questions for diagnosis provider.
c.
5 cases at the two-year follow-up and 3 cases at the seven-year follow-up did not respond to questions for episodic nature.