From the first moment my wife discovered
she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even
ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have
received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than
mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started
this blog…
Every month, I’ll be highlighting breast
cancer research that is going on RIGHT NOW! Harvested from different websites,
journals and podcasts, I’ll translate them into understandable English and
share them with you. Today: Lymph Node Transplant…
The process of
transferring lymph nodes from various parts of the body has been going on for
nearly ten years now with varying rates of success.
Let me be clear
before I go any further, according to the most recent article I could find,
most of the patients experienced a decrease in the dimensions of the lymphedema-affected
limb. The most successful transfers happened in the arms; less successful were
the transfers affecting lymphedema of the leg.
Even though the
transfers were successful, THIS WAS NOT A MIRACLE CURE!
Swelling in the
arm was at best reduced by “…29.1% (Stage II) and 17.9% (Stage III) (P < 0.05).”
To give you a reference point, my wife’s current arm swelling is 40 cm around
(at the bicep). Depending on the stage she’s in, that would be a reduction from
40 cm to (Stage II) 40 cm – 11.64 cm = 28.36 or (Stage III) 40 cm – 7.16 =
32.84. Let’s say that a successful lymph node transfer would result in the arm
going from 40 cm around to 30 cm around. In the case of my wife, the affected
arm would still be slightly larger than the unaffected arm, BUT the difference would
be less noticeable. My wife asked about the stretched skin from the lymphedema,
but I will need to do research on THAT subject at a later time.
HOW is it done?
From the article
referenced below: “…functioning lymph nodes were transplanted from the outer
groin area [other possible sites for node removal include the base of the neck;
around the stomach; around the intestines; or those around the appendix then]into
the wrist…[the] transfer surgery is done through an incision…with the aid of
loupe magnification…then the targeted lymph nodes [are] carefully dissected out,
along with the veins and artery and some surrounding tissue…blood vessels [a]re
reconnected under microscopic magnification…”
After the surgery
is completed – and the person in this article said it was “painless”, though I
can’t imagine how it could be! – “…the transplanted lymph nodes are
reestablished…acting as a physiological ‘sponge’ to drain the excessive lymphedema
fluid…[in]to [nearby veins]...”
The study reference
below was published in November of 2017 and included some 80 or so patients
with lymphedema. It didn’t specify in the abstract how many of them had suffered
from breast cancer. I can only imagine that SOME of them had.
The third article
referenced was published in July of 2016. Even so, it states clearly: “Although
results are promising, VLNT is relatively new and thus still in the exploratory stage…we
do not know exactly which subset of patients with lymphedema will benefit most
from the procedure. In order to tease out these answers we need ongoing,
coordinated outcomes reporting, basic science research on mechanisms of action
in VLNT and an increased understanding of the pathobiology of lymphedema.”
Hopeful?
ABSOLUTELY! But still not a panacea – a cure all – for those suffering lymphedema.
Resources: http://www.health24.com/Medical/Cancer/News/first-lymph-node-transplant-for-cancer-patient-a-success-20171023,
https://www.cancercenter.com/video/treatments-technology/vascularized-lymph-node-transfer/,
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27270748,
https://consultqd.clevelandclinic.org/2016/07/qa-vascularized-lymph-node-transfer-lymphedema-cancer/
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