The effect of aroma lymphatic tressage for lower extremity edema associated with the taxane chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer: A phase 2 clinical trial.

Authors

null

Ju Won Kim

Korea University Anam Hospital, Seoul, South Korea

Ju Won Kim , Yang Sun Ha , Ji Yoon Lee , Jae Hee Yang , Min Jae Lee , Eun Young Lee , Ji Young You , Seung Pil Jung , Kyong Hwa Park

Organizations

Korea University Anam Hospital, Seoul, South Korea, OTI Oncology Esthetic Korea, Seoul, South Korea, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea, Division of Oncology/Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, Korea University Anam Hospital, Seoul, South Korea

Research Funding

No funding received

Background: Taxane-associated lower extremity edema is a distinctive adverse effect of taxane, which severely compromise patients’ quality-of-life. Aroma lymphatic tressage (ALT) has been established as a complementary technique that uses a combination of aromatherapy and hand massage to relieve distress and modulate lymphatic drainage in cancer patients. This study aimed to evaluate the symptom-relieving efficacy of a short course ALT on taxane-induced lower extremity edema. Methods: Patients treated with taxane-based chemotherapy for early or advanced stage breast cancer were screened for the study. Patients were enrolled when they presented more than CTCAE G3 of lower-extremity edema. A total of 8 sessions of ALT were applied twice a week for 4 weeks after completing taxane. The primary endpoint was to determine the leg circumference change before and after receiving ALT. Patients’ subjective degree of edema, and quality-of-life were also assessed. Results: A total of 37 patients completed all sessions of planned treatment. All of the participants were female, with the median age of 55.4-years-old. 30.8% of them were premenopausal. The median height of the patients was 157.6cm, median weight was 60.9kg, and median BMI was 1.6kg/m2. Most of the patients received docetaxel (87.2%). The baseline thigh, calf, and ankle circumferences were 56.5cm, 37.4cm, and 22.6cm, each. After 8 sessions of ALT, the median circumferences decreased to 54.7cm, 36.2cm, and 21.9cm. 23 (62.2%) participants experienced a 3% or more reduction in circumference change with a month of ALT. Patients’ subjective degree of edema decreased 56.9% for 4 weeks compared to baseline, while mean body weight decreased from 62.6kg to 61.2kg. All the differences before and after the ALT were statistically significant (p-value < 0.0001) Most of the indicators assessing patients’ quality-of-life improved during the ALT periods, especially physical subscale (from 14.8 to 19.1, p-value < 0.0001). EORTC-QLQ-C30 score also improved from 70.8 to 57.1 (p-value < 0.0001). Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first clinical trial to evaluate clinical efficacy of ALT on taxane-associated lower extremity edema. Patients who received ALT after taxane-based chemotherapy presented significant decline of leg circumference and improvement of QoL.

Disclaimer

This material on this page is ©2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology, all rights reserved. Licensing available upon request. For more information, please contact licensing@asco.org

Abstract Details

Meeting

2022 ASCO Annual Meeting

Session Type

Publication Only

Session Title

Symptoms and Survivorship

Track

Symptom Science and Palliative Care

Sub Track

Palliative Care and Symptom Management

Citation

J Clin Oncol 40, 2022 (suppl 16; abstr e24099)

DOI

10.1200/JCO.2022.40.16_suppl.e24099

Abstract #

e24099

Abstract Disclosures