Breast cancer-related lymphedema: Symptoms, diagnosis, risk reduction, and management

Core Tip

Core tip: Lymphedema is one of the most dreaded and unfortunate outcomes of breast cancer treatment. Up to 40% of the women treated for breast cancer had lymphedema. Currently, there is no cure for this chronic condition. Even more distressing is that women who treated for breast cancer are facing a life-time risk of developing lymphedema. Lymphedema elicits daily stress and negative impact on breast cancer survivors’ the quality of life. This paper offers an insightful understanding of the condition by providing clinically relevant and evidence based knowledge regarding lymphedema symptoms, diagnosis, risk reduction, and management with the intent to inform health care professionals so that they can be better equipped to care for patients.