Breast cancer surgery patients report lingering pain

A Danish study recently released, reveals more than 50% of women who undergo lumpectomy for the treatment of breast cancer continue to experience pain up to three years later. While other studies have alluded to this lingering pain in breast cancer patients, this study is significant due to its large size. The pain was felt in the breast, chest, under the arm, and in the arm on the same side as the surgery.

Published in the November 11 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Danish study underscores the fact that breast cancer treatment can have lingering physical effects, especially in younger women. Woman who are under the age of forty, have had radiation therapy, and/or extensive surgery such as a mastectomy are more likely to have pain. Patients over the age of forty reported less lingering discomfort.

Armed with this new information concerning chronic pain and discomfort in those women treated for breast cancer, clinicians should pay special attention to patients high risk groups especially when their complaints match those of the women in the study. Fortunately, most of these women had mild or moderate pain which could be relieved by over the counter pain medication.