From breast cancer diagnosis to survivorship: Analyzing perioperative biopsychosocial phenotypes and their relationship to pain on long term.

Persistent breast cancer treatment-related pain affects up to 40% of patients, decreasing their quality of life (QoL). While current research typically utilizes correlation and regression analysis to identify biopsychosocial phenotypes contributing to this pain, this study employs cluster analysis to identify qualitatively different phenotypes based on somatosensory and psychosocial characteristics both before and one week post-breast cancer surgery. Further, it investigates how these phenotypes are related to pain intensity one year post-surgery and examines the evolution of phenotype membership from pre- to post-surgery.

Prognostic factors for the development of upper limb dysfunctions after breast cancer: the UPLIFT-BC prospective longitudinal cohort study protocol.

Introduction: Upper limb (UL) dysfunctions are highly prevalent in people after breast cancer and have a great impact on performing activities in daily living. To improve care, a more comprehensive understanding of the development and persistence of UL dysfunctions is needed. Therefore, the UPLIFT-BC study will primarily examine the prognostic value of different factors at the body functions and structures, environmental and personal level of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework at 1-month post-surgery for persisting UL dysfunctions at 6 months after finishing cancer treatment.

Concurrent validity of dynamic bedside quantitative sensory testing paradigms in breast cancer survivors with persistent pain.

Background: Studies on the concurrent validity of clinically applicable testing protocols for conditioned pain modulation (CPM) and temporal summation of pain (TSP) in breast cancer survivors (BCS) with persistent pain are lacking.

Objectives: This study investigated the concurrent validity of two bedside protocols for CPM and TSP in comparison to a respective reference protocol. The participants' preferences for bedside CPM and TSP protocols were assessed.

Continuum of somatosensory profiles in breast cancer survivors with and without pain, compared to healthy controls and patients with fibromyalgia.

Context: The prevalence of persistent pain among breast cancer survivors (BCS) is high, and it is unclear what distinguishes those with persistent pain from those without. Research suggests that differences in somatosensory function evaluated by quantitative sensory testing (QST) may be responsible.

Objectives: This study aimed to describe somatosensory profiles in terms of hyper- and hypoesthesia in BCS with and without persistent pain using reference data from healthy controls.

Barriers and facilitators to physical activity in cancer survivors with pain: a systematic review.

Purpose: Pain post-treatment is a debilitating symptom in the growing population of cancer survivors. While physical activity is an integral part of pain management, low levels of physical activity are often observed in this population. The aim of this systematic review is to gain insight into the barriers and facilitators to physical activity in cancer survivors afflicted with pain.

The effect of myofascial and physical therapy on trunk, shoulder, and elbow movement patterns in women with pain and myofascial dysfunctions after breast cancer surgery: Secondary analyses of a randomized controlled trial.

Introduction: Secondary upper limb dysfunctions are common after breast cancer treatment. Myofascial treatment may be a valuable physical therapy modality for this problem.

Objective: To investigate the effect of myofascial therapy in addition to physical therapy on shoulder, trunk, and elbow movement patterns in women with pain and myofascial dysfunctions at the upper limb after breast cancer surgery.

Feasibility and pilot testing of a personalized eHealth intervention for pain science education and self-management for breast cancer survivors with persistent pain: a mixed-method study.

Purpose: Here, we describe the development and pilot study of a personalized eHealth intervention containing a pain science education program and self-management support strategies regarding pain and pain-related functioning in female survivors of breast cancer. First, we aimed to evaluate the eHealth intervention's acceptability, comprehensibility, and satisfaction; second, we aimed to assess its preliminary efficacy.

Methods: A mixed-method study design was used.

Effect of pain neuroscience education after breast cancer surgery on pain, physical, and emotional functioning: a double-blinded randomized controlled trial (EduCan trial).

Pain is one of the most common and long-lasting side effects reported by women surgically treated for breast cancer. Educational interventions may optimize the current physical therapy modalities for pain prevention or relief in this population. Pain neuroscience education (PNE) is an educational intervention that explains the pain experience not only from a biomedical perspective but also the psychological and social factors that contribute to it.

Effectiveness of pain neuroscience education on somatosensory functioning after surgery for breast cancer: A double-blinded randomized controlled trial.

Pain is one of the most prevalent and long-term adverse effects described by people who have undergone breast cancer surgery. Non-helpful perceptions and thoughts about pain may contribute to the transition of acute to persistent pain. Adding educational interventions to the current physical therapy program in this population may help to improve or prevent persistent pain.

Pain prevalence and characteristics in survivors of solid cancers: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Purpose: The latest systematic review on the prevalence of pain in cancer survivors was published 5 years ago. The current review aims to provide an extended overview on the prevalence of pain, pain mechanisms, pain characteristics, and assessment methods in cancer survivors.

Methods: A systematic research was conducted on 17th of April 2020 using MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane looking at studies from 2014 to 2020.

Altered somatosensory functioning and mechanism-based classification in breast cancer patients with persistent pain.

Pain is one of the most frequent and persistent side effects of breast cancer treatment. Besides pain, breast cancer survivors (BCS) are prone to experience a myriad of other signs and symptoms related to altered somatosensory function, including for example, hypoesthesia, allodynia, and hyperalgesia, both at the local site of cancer and in remote body parts. Different breast cancer treatments can have a direct effect on somatosensory functioning, resulting in a wide range of these signs and symptoms.

Does Manual Lymphatic Drainage Add Value in Reducing Suprafascial Fluid Accumulation and Skin Elasticity in Patients With Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema?

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of fluoroscopy-guided manual lymph drainage (MLD) versus that of traditional and placebo MLD, when added to decongestive lymphatic therapy (DLT) for the treatment of breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) (EFforT-BCRL trial), on the suprafascial accumulation of lymphatic fluid and skin elasticity.

Methods: In this multicenter, 3-arm, double-blind, randomized controlled trial (EFforT-BCRL trial), 194 participants (mean age = 61 [SD = 10] years) with unilateral BCRL were recruited. All participants received standardized DLT (education, skin care, compression therapy, exercises) and were randomized to fluoroscopy-guided, traditional, or placebo MLD.

Questionnaire-based somatosensory profiling in breast cancer survivors: are we there yet? Associations between questionnaires and quantitative sensory testing.

Purpose: Pain and sensory disturbances are common side effects of breast cancer treatment. Differential somatosensory functioning may reflect distinct pathophysiological backgrounds and therapeutic needs. Aim was to examine whether questionnaires evaluating signs and symptoms related to somatosensory functioning correlate sufficiently with quantitative sensory testing (QST) in breast cancer survivors to warrant consideration for somatosensory profiling in clinical practice.

The Dutch language version of the Pain Disability Index (PDI-DLV): psychometric properties in breast cancer patients.

Background: Pain after breast cancer surgery is a common and disabling problem. A reliable and valid questionnaire to assess pain-related disability is the Pain Disability Index (0-70). However, properties of the Dutch version (PDI-DLV) have never been investigated in this population.

Treating persistent pain after breast cancer: practice gaps and future directions.

This paper discusses the growing problem of persisting pain after successful treatment of breast cancer and presents recommendations for improving pain-related outcomes for this group. We discuss the dominant treatment approach for persisting pain post-breast cancer treatment and draw contrasts with contemporary treatment approaches to persistent pain in non-cancer-related populations. We discuss modern application of the biopsychosocial model of pain and the notion of variable sensitivity within the pain system, moment by moment and over time.

Biopsychosocial risk factors for pain and pain-related disability 1 year after surgery for breast cancer.

Purpose: Knowledge regarding risk factors for pain in the long term after surgery for breast cancer may be of great value in preventing this prevalent and debilitating side effect. Despite the biopsychosocial nature of pain, the predictive value of both pre- and postoperative biopsychosocial functioning for long-term pain intensity and pain-related disability has not yet been studied.

Methods: One hundred sixty-six women planned for unilateral breast cancer surgery were included in this prospective cohort study.

Is evaluation by questionnaires sufficient to cover all aspects of bowel symptoms in rectal cancer patients after low anterior resection?

Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate whether bowel symptoms related to low anterior resection for rectal cancer can be sufficiently well evaluated by the Low Anterior Resection Syndrome (LARS) questionnaire score or the ColoRectal Functional Outcome (COREFO) questionnaire compared with a stool diary.

Method: All patients underwent low anterior resection for rectal cancer. They were asked to fill out a stool diary, the LARS questionnaire and the COREFO questionnaire, at 1, 4, 6 and 12 months after low anterior resection or stoma closure.

Physical Activity Levels of Breast Cancer Patients Before Diagnosis Compared to a Reference Population: A Cross-Sectional Comparative Study.

Purpose: We hypothesize that prediagnosis physical activity (PA) levels of breast cancer patients are below those of a reference population without breast cancer. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to compare prediagnosis PA levels (including total-, occupational-, sport- and household activity levels) of breast cancer patients with activity levels of a reference population.

Methods: Female patients with primary breast cancer (n = 265) filled in the Flemish Physical Activity Computerized Questionnaire (FPACQ) the day before surgery recalling the year before diagnosis.

Absolute and Relative Reliability of a Comprehensive Quantitative Sensory Testing Protocol in Women Treated for Breast Cancer.

Objective: Quantitative sensory testing (QST) consists of noninvasive psychophysical assessment techniques to evaluate the functioning of the somatosensory nervous system. Despite the importance of reliability for the correct use of QST results in research and clinical practice, the relative and absolute intra- and inter-rater reliability of a comprehensive QST protocol to evaluate the functioning of both the peripheral and central somatosensory nervous system in a breast cancer population has not yet been investigated.

Setting: University Hospitals, Leuven, Belgium.

Pain Prevalence During Cancer Treatment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Context: Pain is one of the most complex and prevalent symptoms in the cancer population. Despite the protective role of acute cancer-related pain, it is also an important predictor for the likelihood of developing chronic pain after cancer treatment.

Objectives: Since the last systematic review on pain prevalence rates during cancer treatment dates already from 2016, the aim of the present systematic review was to provide an overview of pain prevalence rates during cancer treatment since this previous review.

Sensory signs and symptoms in women with self-reported breast cancer-related lymphedema: a case-control study close up.

Purpose: It is not clear to what extent signs and symptoms other than arm swelling, including pain, altered sensory function, and body perception disturbances, differ between women with measurable and non-measurable breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL). A case-control study was performed to compare these signs and symptoms between (1) women with self-reported BCRL with objectively measurable swelling; (2) women with self-reported BCRL without objective confirmation; and (3) a control group with no self-reported BCRL.

Methods: The three groups were compared for (1) the severity of self-reported signs and symptoms of BCRL, (2) problems in functioning related to BCRL, (3) pain-related outcomes, (4) sensory functions, and (5) body perception.

Cognitions and physical impairments in relation to upper limb function in women with pain and myofascial dysfunctions in the late stage after breast cancer surgery: an exploratory cross-sectional study.

Purpose: Upper limb (UL) function is one of the health outcomes that matters the most for women with breast cancer. However, a better understanding of the factors contributing to UL dysfunctions in the late stage after breast cancer surgery is needed. This study explores associations between impairment-related and cognition-related factors and UL function in women with pain and myofascial dysfunctions at the affected UL region in this late stage after breast cancer surgery.