Approaching Malignant Lymphedema: A Case Report

Min Gi Kim¹, Jae Yong Jeon¹^,^*

¹Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea

^*Address for correspondence: Jae Yong Jeon, MD, PhD, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Olympic-ro 43-gil 88, Songpa-gu, Seoul 05505, Republic of Korea, Tel: +82-10-9970-3791, Fax: +82-2-3010-6964, E-mail: jyjeon71@gmail.com

ⓒ Copyright 2026 Korean Society of Lymphology and Lymphedema. This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Received: Mar 09, 2023; Accepted: May 26, 2023

Published Online: May 31, 2023

Abstract

When managing cancer-related lymphedema, physicians should discriminate between benign and malignant types. Benign lymphedema could be solely treated by complex decongestive therapy. However, approach for malignant lymphedema should focus on the treatment of progressed cancer. Despite a lack of research on the assessment tools, identifying malignant lymphedema is important. We report a case of an intractable lymphedema patient whose lymphedema was previously assessed as benign. She was newly diagnosed with malignant lymphedema by computed tomography and showed significant improvement after chemoradiotherapy. This case report shows the clinical significance of CT venography for assessing malignant lymphedema in intractable lymphedema patients.

Keywords: Lymphedema; Malignant Lymphedema; CT Venography