Mastectomy-Lumpectomy – OncWonk – Dr Bier's Oncology Research Reviews

Precautions for breast cancer-related lymphoedema: risk from air travel, ipsilateral arm blood pressure measurements, skin puncture, extreme temperatures, and cellulitis

January 1, 2026

| Cancer - Breast, Mastectomy-Lumpectomy

Comment: This synthesis serves as a robust rebuttal to the long-standing “precautions” that have dominated lymphedema education. The findings demonstrate that most traditional prohibitions—specifically air travel and blood pressure measurements—are effectively myths that lack Level 1 or 2 evidence. The core tension is between a historical focus with these external triggers and the clinical reality […]

Radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery for elderly patients with early-stage breast cancer: A national registry-based study

December 1, 2025

| No Comments

| Cancer - Breast, Mastectomy-Lumpectomy, Radiation Therapy

Comment: This study complicates the de-escalation narrative we see surrounding radiation for breast cancer. While randomized trials have proven we can omit radiation in low-risk settings, this data suggests that ‘real-world’ safety may be lower than trial safety. This may be because the registry included patients with higher tumor burdens (up to T2/N1) and unmeasured […]

Association Between Precautionary Behaviors and Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema in Patients Undergoing Bilateral Surgery

November 25, 2025

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| Cancer - Breast, Mastectomy-Lumpectomy

Comment: This study offers yet more reassuring data to challenge the long-held mythology surrounding lymphedema precautions. For years, the conventional wisdom has dictated a strict avoidance of blood pressure cuffs, blood draws, and injections in the at-risk arm. However, this rigorous prospective analysis confirms what many clinicians have suspected: routine, necessary medical procedures are not […]

Impact of Ipsilateral Blood Draws, Injections, Blood Pressure Measurements, and Air Travel on the Risk of Lymphedema for Patients Treated for Breast Cancer

November 22, 2025

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| Cancer - Breast, Mastectomy-Lumpectomy

Comment: Although this study came out almost 10 years ago, I still regularly have to reassure patients that it’s fine to take a blood pressure or do a blood draw or the side of their surgery. For decades, the caution against ipsilateral blood draws, BP checks, injections, and flying was “logical”—it made sense that trauma […]

Real-world impact of postmastectomy radiotherapy in T1–2 breast cancer with one to three positive lymph nodes

November 16, 2025

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| Cancer - Breast, Mastectomy-Lumpectomy, Miscellaneous, Radiation Therapy

Comment: This SEER data review of T1-2N1 breast cancer patients continues the trend we’ve been observing: Postmastectomy Radiotherapy (PMRT) rarely translates into a statistically significant survival advantage in the modern setting. After adjusting for selection bias using Propensity Score Matching (PSM), the 5-year Breast Cancer-Specific Survival (BCSS) was comparable between the PMRT and non-PMRT groups. […]