Bioimpedance to screen for abdominal fat in patients with breast cancer treatment-related lymphedema.

BACKGROUND: One of the dreaded complications after the treatment of breast cancer is lymphedema. Therapies used in the treatment of breast cancer such as surgery, radiotherapy, hormone therapy and chemotherapy may be adversely affected by obesity.

AIM: The objective of this study was to use bioimpedance to assess abdominal fat in women with breast cancer treatment-related lymphedema and suggest this as a screening method.

METHODS: Forty-five female patients with clinical diagnosis of breast cancer treatment-related lymphedema were evaluated in this quantitative cross-sectional study. A control group, composed of 38 patients with varicose veins and women attending a social support group, was matched for age and body mass index (BMI). All participants were submitted to a bioimpedance evaluation (In Body S 10), with particular attention being paid to abdominal fat and their BMI. The unpaired t -test, Fisher Exact test and Mann-Whitney test were used for statistical analysis and an alpha error of 5%.

RESULTS: There was no significant difference (p -value = 0.23) in the mean BMI between the study group (27.79 kg∕m2) and the control group (28.80 kg∕m2). The mean abdominal circumference, a measure of abdominal fat, of the women in the study group was 130.54 cm2 and for the control group it was 102.24 cm2 (p -value = 0.0037). Thus the study group had more abdominal fat (p -value = 0.0003). Moreover, on comparing obese patients in the two groups, the study group had more abdominal fat (p -value = 0.02). However, no significant difference was observed comparing non-obese patients (p -value = 0.6). The comparison of obese patients with non-obese patients in the control group identifies an association between obesity and abdominal fat (p -value < 0.04).

CONCLUSION: Overweight and obese women with breast cancer treatment-related lymphedema are more likely to have increased abdominal fat than the general population with bioimpedance.