Sensory signs and symptoms in women with self-reported breast cancer–related lymphedema: a case–control study close up

Purpose: It is not clear to what extent signs and symptoms other than arm swelling, including pain, altered sensory function, and body perception disturbances, differ between women with measurable and non-measurable breast cancer–related lymphedema (BCRL). A case-control study was performed to compare these signs and symptoms between (1) women with self-reported BCRL with objectively measurable swelling; (2) women with self-reported BCRL without objective confirmation; and (3) a control group with no self-reported BCRL. Methods: The three groups were compared for (1) the severity of self-reported signs and symptoms of BCRL, (2) problems in functioning related to BCRL, (3) pain-related outcomes, (4) sensory functions, and (5) body perception. Results: All self-reported outcomes related to signs and symptoms of BCRL and problems in functioning were significantly different between the control group and the other two groups with and without measurable self-reported BCRL (p < 0.001–0.003). Except for “skin texture” (p = 0.01), “hand swelling” (p=0.301) and ‘difficulty writing’ (p=0.676), no differences were found between groups. For pain-related outcomes, sensory function, and body perception, significant differences were only found for the mechanical detection threshold (p < 0.01) and self-reported disturbances in body perception (p < 0.001) between the self-reported BCRL groups and control group. Conclusions: Diverse signs and symptoms related to BCRL, sensory function, and perception were different among women with self-reported BCRL compared to controls. No differences between women with and without measurable self-reported BCRL were found. Implications for Cancer Survivors: The presence of self-reported BCRL, with or without measurable swelling, is a first indication for the need of further diagnostic evaluation.