Lymphedema after treatment for endometrial cancer - A review of prevalence and risk factors.

Lymphedema after treatment for endometrial cancer - A review of prevalence and risk factors. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2017 Feb 22;211:112-121 Authors: Lindqvist E, Wedin M, Fredrikson M, Kjølhede P Abstract Lymphedema is one of the least studied complications of cancer treatment and a chronic condition with a substantial impact on health-related quality of life (HQoL). Lymphedema of the legs (LLL) constitutes a common adverse side effect of lymphadenectomy LA in gynecologic cancer treatment. Primary treatment of endometrial cancer (EC) comprises hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. Pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy is recommended in prognostic high risk groups of EC. This review summarizes the published literature concerning the prevalence of LLL after treatment for EC, methods used for measuring LLL, risk factors and HQoL impact. The main findings are that the reported prevalence of LLL varies significantly between 0% and 50%. This is due to a lack of a generally accepted standardization of terminology in assessment of lymphedema. The studies use different methods to assess and grade lymphedema and often the methodology used for determining LLL is poorly described and lacks baseline measurement. Lymphadenectomy, number of lymph nodes removed, and radiation therapy seems to increase the risk for LLL. All studies dealing with HQoL show that women with LLL have impaired HQoL. The level of evidence in the pub...
Source: Reproductive Biology - Category: Reproduction Medicine Authors: Tags: Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol Source Type: research