Patients who report cording after breast cancer surgery are at higher risk of lymphedema: Results from a large prospective screening cohort.

OBJECTIVES

To identify the association between cording and breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL); describe time course, location, symptoms and functional impairments.

METHODS

A total of 1181 patients were prospectively screened for BCRL after breast cancer (BC) surgery, including patient-reported outcome measures (4193) and perometric arm volume measurements (BCRL defined as relative or weight-adjusted volume change [RVC or WAC] ≥10% ≥3 months postoperatively).

RESULTS

A total of 374/1181 patients (31.7%) reported cording first a median of 4.5 months postoperatively, and were more likely to: have body mass index less than 30 kg/m ; be less than 55 years of age; have had mastectomy, axillary lymph node dissection, regional lymph node radiation, neoadjuvant chemotherapy (all P < .001), or RVC/WAC ≥10% (P = .002). Patients who reported cording had 2.4 times the odds of developing BCRL compared to those who did not (odds ratio = 2.40; 95% confidence interval = 1.40-4.11; P = .002), and most frequently reported these symptoms: tenderness (61.2%), aching (60.7%), and firmness/tightness (59.8%). On multivariable analysis, cording was significantly correlated with functional difficulty for 17 actions.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients frequently present with cording, potentially months after BC surgery. Risk factors for and symptoms of cording are identified, and treatment is recommended. Patients reporting cording are at higher risk of BCRL, therefore, cording should be incorporated into BCRL risk stratification.