Cancer-related lymphoedema in males: a literature review

Hospital, Townsville, Queensland, Australia; Dr Susan Gordon is Associate Professor, School of Public Health, Tropical Medicine and Rehabilitation Sciences, James Cook University, Queensland, Australia Secondary lymphoedema (SL) most commonly occurs following surgical excision and/or radiation treatment of regional lymph nodes for treatment of cancer (Medical Services Advisory Committee, 2006; Honnor, 2008). Patients with the condition experience a wide range of physical, psychological and social problems (Farncombe et al,1994; Sitza et al,1998; Warren et al, 2007; Honnor, 2008). As there is no cure for SL (Sitza and Sorbrido, 1997), intervention consists of education on how to reduce the risk of SL and treatment to reduce and control swelling in order to maximise quality of life. In Australia, the number of new cases of cancer in males is expected to rise by 1,916 cases per year (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare [AIHW] and Australasian Association of Cancer Registries [AACR], 2008) with men having a one-in-three lifetime risk of developing cancer compared to women who have a one-in-four lifetime risk (AIHW and AACR, 2007).