Early Intervention to Prevent Lower Limb Lymphedema of Gynecological Malignancy

March 20, 2023 updated by: Dongling Zou, Chongqing University Cancer Hospital

Early Intervention to Prevent Gynecological Malignant Tumors Clinical Study of Lymphedema of the Lower Limbs in Patients With Radiotherapy After Lymphadenectomy

This study is a prospective, randomized, controlled clinical trial of a single center in China and plans to enroll 400 patients.

  1. Patients with diagnosed gynecological malignancies who underwent pelvic and abdominal lymphadenectomy and required pelvic radiotherapy;
  2. Random grouping (A:B=3:1): A. Prophylactic lymphoedema treatment; B. Standard care group;
  3. Preventive lymphedema health education was given to patients with gynecological malignant tumors without contraindications before surgery. All patients were randomly divided into an intervention group and a nonintervention group. The intervention group received preventive lymphedema treatment twice a week. 10 times, and the interval between the two treatments was not less than 48 hours and not more than 2 weeks. The intervention measures included four parts: manual lymphatic drainage, skin care, functional exercise, and wearing lymphedema preventive compression stockings. In the nonintervention group, knowledge education and telephone follow-up were routinely conducted.
  4. All patients were evaluated for edema, lymphedema symptoms and quality of life 1 day before radiotherapy, every Friday during radiotherapy and every 3 months thereafter. Bioelectrical impedance measurement and leg diameter measurement were used to evaluate edema, the Gynecologic Cancer Lymphedema Questionnaire (GCLQ) was used to evaluate lymphedema symptoms, and the EORTC Quality of Life Scale (QLQ-C30) was used to evaluate quality of life. followed up to 2 years after the end of lymphedema prophylaxis.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Research background Gynecological malignancies, including cervical cancer, ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer, vulvar cancer, etc., are important diseases threatening women's health worldwide, and their main treatment methods are surgery and radiotherapy. During surgery, different numbers of lymph nodes are removed, and lymphatic fluid and tissue exudate from the stump lymphatic vessels accumulate, causing disruption of the original lymphatic circulation and obstruction of lymphatic fluid return, which leads to lower limb edema . The longer the radiotherapy lasts, the more serious the phenomenon of collateral circulation will be, and the lymphatic return pathway will be damaged, resulting in lower limb lymphedema .

Lower extremity lymphedema is a relatively common complication after treatment for gynecologic malignancies, and it has been reported that approximately 20 million patients worldwide are affected by lower extremity lymphedema. The overall incidence of lower extremity lymphedema after gynecologic malignancy treatment is about 25% and can be as high as 70% in special groups . Age, weight, radiotherapy dose, duration of postoperative radiotherapy, tumor stage, daily standing time, number of lymph node dissection, and co-infection are all risk factors for the occurrence of lower extremity lymphedema.

Lymphedema is characterized by sunken edema at the beginning of the disease and progresses to include swelling, numbness, heaviness, tissue fibrosis, impaired movement, and rough epidermal keratinization, and increases the risk of inflammation of the lymphatic vessels and surrounding tissues and cellulitis. Lower extremity lymphedema is a chronic progressive disease that is difficult to cure and has a negative impact on limb function, daily life, quality of life and psychological well-being.

The treatment of lymphedema includes surgical treatment and conservative treatment. The conservative treatment methods include Complex Decongestion Therapy (CDT), external application of Chinese herbal medicine and western medicine, etc. The Complex Decongestion Therapy (CDT) is the most widely used lymphedema treatment with the best efficacy internationally in recent years. The treatment method, but requires long-term or even lifelong care , which brings huge psychological burden and economic pressure to the patient's family. Therefore, lymphedema of the lower extremities should be prevented, and preventive and therapeutic measures should be taken as early as possible to improve the quality of life of patients.

Currently, studies on lymphedema prevention have focused on interventions for breast cancer-related lymphedema , while few studies have been reported on the prevention of lymphedema associated with gynecologic malignancies. Research reported that early intervention with freehand lymphatic drainage technique could effectively prevent lower limb lymphedema, and Research showed that full range of hip exercises could prevent lower limb lymphedema after cervical cancer surgery, in addition, some studies also found that freehand lymphatic drainage combined with Kegel training could prevent vulvar stage I lymphedema after cervical cancer surgery, however, these studies have some limitations, such as small sample size and limited study content. However, these studies have limitations, such as small sample size and limited study content. Moreover, there are no empirical studies on the prevention of lower extremity lymphedema in large samples, and there is no unified standard for the prevention and management of lower extremity lymphedema. Therefore, in this study, the investigators used an evidence-based approach and clinical experience to conduct a prospective study on the prevention of lower limb lymphedema in order to reduce the incidence of lower limb lymphedema, improve patients' quality of life, and reduce their economic burden.

Research objective

  1. To understand the incidence of lymphedema after gynecological tumor surgery and radiotherapy and its impact on the quality of life of patients.
  2. Through preventive lymphedema treatment intervention, reduce the proportion of lymphedema, reduce the economic burden of patients, and improve their quality of life.
  3. We aimed to find a more economical and effective method to treat gynecological malignant tumor lymphedema.

Main outcome measures: The incidence of lower extremity lymphedema after gynecological cancer surgery and radiotherapy, and the incidence of lower extremity lymphedema after prophylactic lymphedema treatment.

Secondary outcome measures: quality of life, incidence of lymphedema symptoms, and progression-free survival (PFS).

Study population

Inclusion criteria:

  1. Gynecologic oncology patients undergoing radiotherapy after lymph node surgery who voluntarily participate in this study and sign an informed consent form.
  2. 18 to 60 years old.
  3. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group（ECOG) score less than 2.
  4. Expected survival time greater than 3 years.
  5. Hemoglobin(Hb) greater than or equal to 70 g/L, white blood cells (WBC)greater than or equal to 3.5 × 109 /L, neutrophils(ANC)greater than or equal to 1.5 × 109 /L, platelets (PLT)greater than or equal to 80 × 109 /L.
  6. serum alamine aminotransferase(ALT) and glutamic oxalacetic transaminase(AST) less than 2 times the normal value and creatinine less than 1.5 times the normal value, albumin greater than or equal to 35g/L.
  7. Women of childbearing potential must have had a pregnancy test (serum or urine) within 7 days prior to enrollment and have a negative result and be willing to use an appropriate method of contraception for the duration of the trial.
  8. Ability to comply with the trial protocol, as judged by the investigator.

Exclusion criteria:

  1. Lymphedema and deep vein thrombosis of the lower extremities were clearly diagnosed;
  2. Acute infection of any kind;
  3. Patients with lower extremity edema;
  4. pregnancy, menstrual period;
  5. Recent major abdominal surgery (determined by the investigator);
  6. Radiation colitis, cystitis, intestinal infection, small bowel or large bowel diverticulitis or diverticulitis;
  7. Liver fibrosis;
  8. Abdominal aortic aneurysm;
  9. acute phlebitis;
  10. Severe arterial obstructive disease, arterial ulcer, ABPI (ankle-brachial blood pressure index) greater than 1.3 and less than 0.5;
  11. Severe peripheral neuropathy;
  12. Poor control of hypertension, poor control of stroke and diabetes, and severe bronchial asthma;
  13. Patients who cannot understand the experimental content and cannot cooperate and those who refuse to sign the informed consent;
  14. Those with concomitant diseases or other special circumstances that seriously endanger the patient's safety or affect the patient's completion of the study.

Subject Termination Criteria

  1. The investigator believes that the treatment should be terminated from the perspective of the best benefit of the patients;
  2. There are intolerable adverse reactions, after confirmation by the investigator;
  3. Failure to complete the treatment according to the cycle and time;
  4. The patient withdraws informed consent.

Elimination criteria:

(1) Those who did not meet the standards and were mistakenly included.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

400

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

  • Name: Dongling Zou, Doctor
  • Phone Number: +8613657690699
  • Email: cqzl_zdl@163.com

Study Locations

  • China
    • Chongqing
      • Chongqing, Chongqing, China, 400030
        • Recruiting
        • Chongqing University Cancer Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 60 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1.Gynecologic oncology patients undergoing radiotherapy after lymph node surgery who voluntarily participate in this study and sign an informed consent form.

2.18 to 60 years old. 3.Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group（ECOG) score less than 2. 4.Expected survival time greater than 3 years. 5.Hemoglobin(Hb) greater than or equal to 70 g/L, white blood cells (WBC)greater than or equal to 3.5 × 109 /L, neutrophils(ANC)greater than or equal to 1.5 × 109 /L, platelets (PLT)greater than or equal to 80 × 109 /L.

6.serum alamine aminotransferase(ALT) and glutamic oxalacetic transaminase(AST) less than 2 times the normal value and creatinine less than 1.5 times the normal value, albumin greater than or equal to 35g/L.

7.Women of childbearing potential must have had a pregnancy test (serum or urine) within 7 days prior to enrollment and have a negative result and be willing to use an appropriate method of contraception for the duration of the trial.

8.Ability to comply with the trial protocol, as judged by the investigator.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Lymphedema and deep vein thrombosis of the lower extremities were clearly diagnosed;
  2. Acute infection of any kind;
  3. Patients with lower extremity edema;
  4. pregnancy, menstrual period;
  5. Recent major abdominal surgery (determined by the investigator);
  6. Radiation colitis, cystitis, intestinal infection, small bowel or large bowel diverticulitis or diverticulitis;
  7. Liver fibrosis;
  8. Abdominal aortic aneurysm;
  9. acute phlebitis;
  10. Severe arterial obstructive disease, arterial ulcer, ABPI (ankle-brachial blood pressure index) greater than 1.3 and less than 0.5;
  11. Severe peripheral neuropathy;
  12. Poor control of hypertension, poor control of stroke and diabetes, and severe bronchial asthma;
  13. Patients who cannot understand the experimental content and cannot cooperate and those who refuse to sign the informed consent;
  14. Those with concomitant diseases or other special circumstances that seriously endanger the patient's safety or affect the patient's completion of the study.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Prophylactic lymphedema treatment

Prophylactic lymphedema treatment：The lymphedema prophylaxis treatment consists of four parts:manual lymphatic drainage, skin care, functional exercise, and wearing lymphedema preventive compression stockings.

The prophylactic lymphedema treatment group receives lymphedema prophylaxis twice a week for a total of 10 sessions, each requiring an interval of at least 48 hours but no more than 2 weeks.
Behavioral: Prophylactic lymphedema treatment
1. perform manual lymphatic drainage twice a week after the start of radiotherapy for a total of 10 times, and wear lymphedema compression stockings after each manual lymphatic drainage, 2. teach patients how to care for their skin. 3. perform functional exercises for lymphedema of the lower extremities twice a day for 15 ~ 20 minutes each time. 4. follow up observation: before the start of radiotherapy, every Friday during radiotherapy, and every 3 months after the end of radiotherapy, the occurrence of lymphedema and related symptoms and quality of life were evaluated.
No Intervention: Standard of care
Standard of care，includeIn knowledge education and telephone follow-up were routinely conducted.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Incidence of lymphedema
Time Frame: Incidence of lymphedema in the prophylactic lymphedema treatment group and the standard treatment group at 2 years after the end of radiotherapy
The incidence of lower extremity lymphedema after gynecological cancer surgery and radiotherapy, and the incidence of lower extremity lymphedema after prophylactic lymphedema treatment.
Incidence of lymphedema in the prophylactic lymphedema treatment group and the standard treatment group at 2 years after the end of radiotherapy
Quality of life of patients
Time Frame: Quality of life QLQ-C30 scores for the prophylactic lymphedema treatment group and the standard treatment group at 2 years after the end of radiotherapy
The quality of life of cancer patients (QLQ-C30) was used to assess the quality of life of patients. Including the overall quality of life subscale, functional subscale, symptom subscale, and individual test items. The higher the overall quality of life subscale and the functional subscale score, the better the quality or function. The more severe the symptoms.
Quality of life QLQ-C30 scores for the prophylactic lymphedema treatment group and the standard treatment group at 2 years after the end of radiotherapy

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Subjective feelings
Time Frame: Quality of life GCLQ scores for the prophylactic lymphedema treatment group and the standard treatment group at 2 years after the end of radiotherapy
The Gynecologic Cancer Lymphedema Questionnaire (GCLQ) was used to evaluate the subjective feelings of patients, which was mainly used to evaluate whether the limbs had symptoms such as swelling, pain, and heaviness. The evaluation included 7 symptom groups of heaviness, edema (overall), swelling (local), infection-related symptoms, pain, numbness, and limb function, with a total of 20 items.1 mark for "yes" and 0 mark for "no" for each entry. The higher the GCLQ score, the worse the subjective perception, and a score greater than or equal to 4 is recognized as the onset of lymphedema.
Quality of life GCLQ scores for the prophylactic lymphedema treatment group and the standard treatment group at 2 years after the end of radiotherapy
2-year progression-free survival,2-year PFS
Time Frame: 2-year PFS was defined as the time from randomization to the first occurrence of disease progression or death from any cause within 2 years
2-year PFS was defined as the time from randomization to the first occurrence of disease progression or death from any cause within 2 years
2-year PFS was defined as the time from randomization to the first occurrence of disease progression or death from any cause within 2 years

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Chongqing University Cancer Hospital

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Anticipated)

April 1, 2023

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

July 29, 2026

Study Completion (Anticipated)

July 29, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 29, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 20, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

March 31, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 31, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 20, 2023

Last Verified

March 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • CQGOG0108

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

This study is a prospective, randomized, controlled clinical trial of a single center in China and plans to enroll 400 patients. 1.Patients with diagnosed gynecological malignancies who underwent pelvic and abdominal lymphadenectomy and required pelvic radiotherapy. 2.Random grouping (A:B=3:1).

3.Preventive lymphedema health education was given to patients with gynecological malignant tumors without contraindications before surgery. 4.All patients were evaluated for edema, lymphedema symptoms and quality of life ,Bioelectrical impedance measurement and leg diameter measurement , the Gynecologic Cancer Lymphedema Questionnaire (GCLQ) , and the EORTC Quality of Life Scale (QLQ-C30) will be used

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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