Exercise Training and Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema: A Systematic Review

Context: despite the improvements that have beenmadein treatment of breast cancer, upper-limblymphedemais still an unsolved problem in the treatment of women with breast cancer. upper extremity lymphedema may accompany with decreased in shoulder range of motion and strength, and also pain. nowadays, exercise training acts as a treatment method to control lymphedema in breast cancer survivors. therefore, this study reviews the results of the applied studies in this field to survey the influences of exercise training on lymphedema and to determine its related symptoms in women with breast cancer. data sources: literature investigation was conducted on august 1st, 2016 using pubmed, medline, cinahl, and google scholar databases. studyselection: randomizedandnonrandomizedcontrolled trials published in englishwereincluded. twelve trailsmetinclusion criteria. data extraction: data were extracted in a standardizedmannerinto the predefined table. then, quality of the studies was evaluated using the guide to community preventive services tool. conclusions: it can be seen that a few studies have examined the effect of exercise training on lymphedema to conduct a review study. so, lymphedema continues to be a problem for breast cancer survivors. according to most studies, aerobic, resistance and stretching training programs had no influence on the volume and circumference of arm in lymphedema cancer patients, but the training had a noticeable influence on quality of life