The content below is provided by VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center, a sponsor of H4TG’s A Calendar to Live By/Guide to Caring for Yourself. Kandace McGuire, M.D., FACS, chief of breast surgery and surgical leader of the breast health team at VCU Massey Cancer Center
A new cutting-edge technology helps detect lymphedema in its earliest stages, saving breast cancer patients from the potentially lifelong management of a complication of the surgical removal of lymph nodes or radiation therapy affecting the lymph nodes as part of cancer treatment.
Rates of lymphedema – a buildup of fluid that can cause swelling and discomfort in the affected limb – can range from 2-6% of patients receiving the least invasive sentinel node biopsy to up to 50% in some patients who need a full lymph node dissection as part of their cancer treatment.
Breast cancer patients can now be monitored using SOZO, a minimally invasive technology that measures the fluid in a limb at risk for lymphedema. Patients can receive a baseline measurement before surgery, allowing for easy detection of minute fluid changes at postoperative appointments.
The test is done as part of a patient’s regular intake along with their blood pressure and heart rate measurements. Patients simply place their hands and feet on the device, and results are shown in under a minute.
Usually, when we detect lymphedema it’s because someone has symptoms. At that point, it’s often irreversible – you can manage the symptoms, but it will be a lifelong battle. If we can find it early and treat it early, it gives patients the ability to live their life free of lymphedema symptoms.
With SOZO, a multidisciplinary breast cancer team can identify early lymphedema-related fluid changes before the patient experiences any symptoms. With occupational and physical therapy – including use of a compression sleeve, therapeutic massage, and exercise – the lymphedema can be either stabilized or reversed in the majority of patients.
This is a thrilling opportunity to continue to bring innovations in cancer care to breast cancer patients and survivors here in Virginia. Based on the studies of this technology in a clinical setting, this early detection measurement leads to treatment that is successful in 80-85% of patients. That could change the face of lymphedema.