Breast Cancer May Be Gone, But Pain Lingers
TUESDAY, Nov. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Even three years after finishing treatment for breast cancer, almost 50 percent of women report long-term pain, a new Danish study finds.
The research, published in the Nov. 11 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, strengthens earlier findings, said study senior author Dr. Henrik Kehlet, a professor of perioperative therapy at Rigshospitalet at Copenhagen University. But this work indicates which women are most likely to experience persistent pain.
"Several previous scientific reports have shown a risk of chronic pain after breast cancer surgery," said Kehlet. The strength of this study, he noted, is the large number of participants -- more than 3,000 -- and the evaluation of many types of treatments.
Kehlet's team reviewed questionnaires filled out by 3,253 women who had undergone breast cancer treatment in Denmark between 2005 and 2006. Their treatments varied and included breast-conserving surgery, mastectomy, radiation, chemotherapy and dissection of the lymph nodes.
The women were asked whether they experienced pain, in what areas of the body, how bad it was and how often they experienced it.
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