Post breast cancer treatment pain common

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- Almost 50 percent of women with breast cancer reported pain two to three years after treatment, researchers in Denmark said.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found younger women who had received supplemental radiation therapy were the more likely to have pain.

Dr. Rune Gartner of the University of Copenhagen and colleagues questioned 3,754 women ages 18-70 about pain after an average of 26 months after surgery for breast cancer and found 1,543 patients reported pain in one or more areas.

Of these, 13 percent reported severe pain, 39 percent reported moderate pain and 48 percent reported light pain. Adjuvant radiation therapy or axillary lymph node dissection -- rather than sentinel lymph node dissection -- were among factors associated with an increased likelihood of pain, the study also found.

"There was a significant association of age on reporting pain, where young age was associated with higher risk, especially for patients receiving breast-conserving surgery, the risk being highest for those women ages 18-39 receiving breast-conserving surgery compared with women ages 60-69," the study authors said in a statement.