In recent years, breast cancer mortality rates have declined(1), reflecting advances in early detection as well as more widespreadapplication of effective adjuvant therapies. Many womendiagnosed with breast cancer today can expect survival that issimilar to age-matched women without breast cancer as a resultof advances in early detection and effective adjuvant therapies.This is particularly the case for the increasing proportion ofnewly diagnosed women who have stage 0 or very favorablestage 1 breast cancer (e.g., tumors that are <1 cm in size) (2).Consequently, effective prevention and management of treatmentsequelae that can impair function or detract from quality oflife have taken on increasing importance.Arm edema after breast cancer surgery and radiation therapyis one of these sequelae (1,3–7). Arm edema in the breast cancerpatient is caused by interruption of the axillary lymphatic systemby surgery or radiation therapy, which results in the accumulationof fluid in subcutaneous tissue in the arm, with decreaseddistensibility of tissue around the joints and increased weight ofthe extremity (3). Chronic inflammatory changes result in bothsubcutaneous and lymph vessel fibrosis (8).
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