Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38896173›Full record

ArticleJournal of cancer survivorship : research and practice2026

Arm morbidity and financial difficulty in breast cancer survivors.

Sara P Myers, Alison Laws, Laura S Dominici, Mirelle Lagendijk, Samantha Grossmith, Elizabeth A Mittendorf, Tari A King

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Article in Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

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2citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Sara P MyersDivision of Breast Surgery, Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. smyers0@bwh.harvard.edu.
Alison LawsDivision of Breast Surgery, Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Laura S DominiciDivision of Breast Surgery, Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Mirelle LagendijkDepartment of Surgery, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, NL, Netherlands.
Samantha GrossmithDivision of Breast Surgery, Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Elizabeth A MittendorfDivision of Breast Surgery, Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Tari A KingDivision of Breast Surgery, Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeLong-term upper extremity symptoms after breast cancer treatment may impact patient-reported financial difficulty. In this cross-sectional investigation, we hypothesized that severity of arm symptoms would be associated with greater financial difficulty.

methodsStage 0-III breast cancer patients treated at our institution from 2002 to 2012 were recruited for a 2018 survey study appraising disease-specific patient-centered outcomes using EORTC-QLQ-BR23 and EORTC-QLQ-C30 questionnaires. The association between Arm Symptom (AS) score and Financial Impact (FI) score was assessed, adjusting for clinically relevant variables.

resultsOf 1126 interested participants, 882 (78%) responded to surveys. Three hundred fourteen (36%) with incomplete responses were excluded. Median time from surgery was 9 years; 181 (32%) and 117 (21%) had mastectomy with or without reconstruction, 126 (22%) received postmastectomy radiation (PMRT), and 221 (39%) underwent axillary lymph node dissection. 76 (13%) reported some degree of financial difficulty; 10 (2%) the highest degree of difficulty. Of 217 (38%) patients experiencing arm symptoms, 60 (28%) had severe symptoms. Seven (70%) of those with highest degree of financial difficulty had severe arm symptoms. Younger age at surgery (p = .029), mastectomy with reconstruction (p = 0.003), Hispanic ethnicity (p < 0.001), PMRT (p = 0.027), recurrence (p < 0.001), and higher AS score (p < 0.001) were associated with greater financial difficulty. On multivariable analysis, AS score, younger age, Hispanic ethnicity, and recurrence remained associated with financial difficulty.

conclusionIn this study, younger age, Hispanic ethnicity, and arm morbidity were associated with increased risk for financial difficulty. Clarifying how treatment-related adverse events such as arm morbidity increase financial hardship may guide interventions to mitigate this burden.

Indexed as

ArmBreast NeoplasmsCancer SurvivorsAdultAgedCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansMastectomyMiddle AgedMorbidityQuality of LifeSurveys and QuestionnairesArmBreast cancerFinancial difficultyLymphedemaMorbidity

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.