Main findings

• A total of 228 patients with breast cancer were enrolled in the study.
• BCRL was assessed by measuring the circumference of both arms at 15cm below the acromion process and the olecranon process. Patients were classified as BCRL (n=22) and non-BCRL (n=206) based on the difference of the arm circumference of 2cm. Data including lymphedema, anthropometry, BIA measurements, food frequency questionnaire, type of surgery, total number of dissected lymph nodes, and post-operative treatment were collected.
• Of the breast cancer survivors, 10.4% had BCRL by the definition. The BCRL group contained 22 patients, while the non-BCRL group contained 206 patients. Compared to the non-BCRL group, the BCRL group had a higher body mass index, a larger percentage of ideal body weight, more dissected lymph nodes, and higher single-frequency BIA (SFBIA) ratio (P=0.027,P=0.031,P<0.001,andP<0.001, respectively). The SFBIA ratio provided 63.64% sensitivity and 95.15% specificity in estimating the risk of BCRL.