A recent study showed that almost one half of all women who had surgery for breast cancer in Denmark over a two-year period still had pain two to three years later. The pain was mostly in their breast area, although it extended to the armpit, arm, and side of the body for some women.

Half of these women classed their pain as moderate or severe, and many had pain every day. So it’s clearly a major issue that needs to be tackled.

Surprisingly, the main factor that predicted whether a woman had pain was how old she was. Under-40s were the most likely to have pain, with 64 in 100 women saying they still had pain on average of 26 months after surgery. By comparison, only 40 in 100 women aged 60 to 69 said they had pain.

It’s not clear why this is. It could be that the denser breast tissue of younger women means their breasts are more susceptible to pain. Or it could be that older women were less worried by pain, perhaps because they had more support from partners and families.

Treatment factors, such as having chemotherapy and the type of breast cancer surgery, seemed to have less effect than age.

What you need to know. Talk to your doctor, if you get pain after breast cancer surgery. There are plenty of pain-relieving treatments available, and quick, effective treatment may help prevent pain from becoming a long-term problem.

—Anna Sayburn, patient editor, BMJ Group

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