Cancer surgery side effects cut

Surgery can have painful side effects

A technique significantly reduces the side effects of breast cancer surgery, research shows.

Usually most of the lymph glands under the arms are removed, potentially leading to shoulder stiffness, nerve-related pain and arm swelling.

But Cancer Research UK scientists have tested an alternative, which requires the removal of just some of the lymph nodes.

The study is published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

The alternative technique is called Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy (SLNB).

It involves removing two or three lymph glands from the armpit and testing them for cancer cells.

The procedure is designed to tell surgeons whether or not removing the remaining lymph glands - known as axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) - is necessary.

Uncomfortable side effects

Researcher Professor Stephen Duffy said: "Improvements in surgery have played a key role in bringing breast cancer survival rates to over 80%.

"But the benefits of surgery come at a price. The side effects that can result from having lymph glands removed can be very uncomfortable and long lasting.

"With this new technique, the first - or sentinel - lymph glands that drain the breast tumour are taken out and tested for signs of cancer.

"The procedure tells doctors whether or not removing the remaining lymph glands will be necessary, which means less surgery for the many women whose cancer has not spread to the lymph glands."

A total of 298 patients with early breast cancer from Addenbrooke's, West Suffolk and Kings Lynn Hospitals took part in the trial.

Half had standard surgery and half were treated with the new technique.

Incidence of lymphoedema - a chronic swelling of the arm - was 70% lower in the SLNB group than in the ALND group.

Psychological wellbeing

Women who had the new technique were also 60% less likely to experience paraesthesia - an abnormal feeling of numbness, tingling, prickling or burning in the arm.

Quality of life and psychological wellbeing were both significantly better in the SLNB group.

Lead researcher Arnie Purushotham, based at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, said: "Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy is becoming more widely available in the UK.

"This study provides the most detailed information to date on the technique's benefits with regard to side effects."

Professor John Toy, Cancer Research UK's Medical Director, said further work was needed to confirm that SLNB was an accurate way of showing cancer has not spread to the glands in the armpit.