NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A study shows that weight loss is beneficial for women who suffer from breast cancer-related lymphedema -- chronic arm swelling following removal of the lymph nodes during breast cancer surgery.
Arm lymphedema may develop early after treatment or up to 30 years later, note Dr. Clare Shaw, of Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK, and colleagues in the journal Cancer. "Many studies have suggested that obesity or being overweight may predispose women to developing lymphedema after treatment for breast cancer," they add.
The researchers compared the effect of two dietary interventions on excess arm volume in 64 women with breast cancer-related lymphedema.
The women were randomly assigned to one of three groups for 24 weeks: a weight loss through dieting group; a low-fat diet with no change in energy intake group; or a control group with no dietary changes. The main outcome measure was arm volume at 24 weeks.
Both the dieters and the women on the low-fat diet saw significant reductions in body weight, body mass index, skinfold thickness, and percentage body fat compared to controls.
Moreover, the two dietary (intervention) groups achieved a "slightly greater, but not significant, fall in arm volume," relative to the control group, the team notes. There was a significant correlation between weight loss (regardless of group) and a reduction in excess arm volume.
This study, Shaw and colleagues conclude, shows that manipulating the diets of women with arm lymphedema after breast cancer treatment seems to help reduce arm lymphedema if body weight is reduced.
SOURCE: Cancer May 15, 2007.
Lymphedema (pronounced lim-fe-DEE-ma) is a side effect that can begin any time after removal of the lymph nodes during breast cancer surgery. This condition involves swelling of the soft tissues of the arm or hand, and may be accompanied by numbness, pain, or a feeling of tightness. It can sometimes be complicated by infection. Lymphedema can be looked at as a plumbing problem. Lymphatic vessels are like pipes and drains that help prevent accumulation of a normally occurring tissue fluid called lymphatic fluid. If some lymph nodes and channels are removed during breast cancer surgery, there might not be enough pipes and drains to handle all of the lymphatic fluid in the arm or hand on the side where the surgery was performed. The lymphatic fluid then accumulates. Lymphedema isn't life threatening, but it can last a long period of time.
Being overweight has been associated with the development of lymphedema after breast cancer surgery. One reason that weight might contribute to lympedema is that compression from excess weight in the arm can further restrict drainage of lymphatic fluid after surgery. The doctors conducting the research reported here wondered whether weight loss could help women with lymphedema. The research showed that weight loss, achieved by a reduced-calorie diet or even just a low-fat diet, tended to decrease the amount of arm swelling in women with chronic lymphedema following breast cancer surgery. The more weight lost, the more improvement seen.
In the Arm Lymphedema section you can learn much more about why lymphedema happens, who’s at risk, the steps you can take after breast cancer surgery to lower the chances of getting lymphedema, and what you can do to control lymphedema if it develops.
This article was made possible by an educational grant from GlaxoSmithKline.
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