Breast cancer is the most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women. One in 11 European women will be diagnosed with breast cancer within their lifetime (less than one per cent of all breast cancer diagnoses occur in men). Worldwide, around 2.3 million new cases were diagnosed in 2020.  

The choice of breast cancer treatment for an individual patient depends on a number of factors including the stage and subtype of the cancer, the tumour location and the patient’s health and preferences. Treatment options typically include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, endocrine therapy and targeted therapy.

These breast cancer treatments are accompanied by side effects ranging from mild to severe. The most common, disabling and persistent side effects are pain, upper limb dysfunction and cancer-related fatigue (CRF).

Physiotherapy interventions aimed at improving functional outcomes and overall wellbeing are a key component of care during and after breast cancer treatment. These interventions include providing patients with education about pain and CRF, exercise therapy including specific exercises and stretching to facilitate recovery, as well as general exercise to alleviate CRF, manual therapies to address scar tissue formation and pain relief, and mind-body interventions including yoga and Pilates.

In their Journal of Physiotherapy Invited Topical Review, Belgian researchers Nele Devoogdt and An De Groef discuss the role of physiotherapy in the management of the most frequent sequelae of breast cancer treatment, from the time of diagnosis through treatment and into survivorship. Future directions for research and practice are also discussed.

For more information, read the entire Invited Topical Review.

This blog is a Physiotherapy Research Foundation (PRF) initiative.

Professor Nele Devoogdt is a researcher in the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences at KU Leuven in Belgium. Her research focuses on the clinical evaluation of different aspects of lymphoedema (i.e. volume, water content, problems in functioning, lymphatic system) and lipoedema, as well as prevention and treatment.

Professor An De Groef is a physiotherapist and a researcher at the University of Antwerp and KU Leuven in Belgium. Her research focuses on the underlying mechanisms of pain and physical functioning and clinically-oriented research into their prevention and treatment using behavioural interventions (including pain education and active therapy). She also coordinates research into the care of different comorbidities in oncology patients.