ArticleTherapeutics and clinical risk management2015
Risk of breast cancer recurrence in patients receiving manual lymphatic drainage: a hospital-based cohort study.
Article in Therapeutics and clinical risk management, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Harms of massage in persons with cancer or receiving treatment for cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2026Pooled it
- Comparisons between Manual Lymph Drainage, Abdominal Massage, and Electrical Stimulation on Functional Constipation Outcomes: A Randomized, Controlled Trial.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Trial
- Beyond cancer treatment: dermo-aesthetic and other wellness recommendations for breast cancer patients.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2025Review
- Pretreatment Circulating Albumin, Platelet, and RDW-SD Associated with Worse Disease-Free Survival in Patients with Breast Cancer.Breast cancer (Dove Medical Press) · 2024Article
- Review
- Effects of manual lymph drainage for abdomen on the brain activity of subjects with psychological stress.Journal of physical therapy science · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThis retrospective cohort study evaluated whether manual lymphatic drainage (MLD) therapy increases the risk of recurrence of breast cancer.
methodsWe analyzed 1,106 women who were diagnosed with stage 0-3 breast cancer between 2007 and 2011 and experienced remission after surgery and adjuvant therapy. The patients were divided into two groups: group A (n=996), in which patients did not participate in any MLD therapy, regardless of whether they developed breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) after cancer treatment; and group B (n=110), in which patients participated in MLD therapy for BCRL. All patients were monitored until October 2013 to determine whether breast cancer recurrence developed, including local or regional recurrence and distant metastasis. Patients who developed cancer recurrence prior to MLD therapy were excluded from analysis. Risk factors associated with cancer recurrence were evaluated using Cox proportional hazards models.
resultsDuring the monitoring period, 166 patients (15.0%) developed cancer recurrence, including 154 (15.5%) in group A and 12 (10.9%) in group B. The median period from surgery to cancer recurrence was 1.85 (interquartile range 1.18-2.93) years. Independent risk factors for cancer recurrence were tumor histological grading of grade 3, high number (≥3) of axillary lymph node invasion, and a large tumor size (>5 cm). Factors protecting against recurrence were positive progesterone receptor status and receiving radiation therapy. Receiving MLD therapy was not an outcome factor in multivariate analyses (hazard ratio 0.71, 95% confidence interval 0.39-1.29, P=0.259).
conclusionMLD is a gentle procedure that does not increase the risk of breast cancer recurrence in patients who develop BCRL.
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