Rehabilitation Required by Patients With Cancer
Core concepts
Rehabilitation is multidisciplinary and longitudinal, beginning at diagnosis and continuing through treatment and survivorship. Domains include physical (mobility, strength, lymphedema, fatigue), functional (ADLs, return to work), psychological (distress, anxiety, depression), and social (financial toxicity, caregiver burden).
Know common rehabilitation needs by treatment: post-surgical deconditioning, lymphedema after axillary or groin dissection, radiation-induced fibrosis, chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, and cancer-related fatigue. Prehabilitation before major surgery improves outcomes and is increasingly examinable.
Traps in questions
- Treating fatigue as purely psychological-screen for anemia, thyroid, depression, and sleep disturbance first.
- Missing lymphedema in the contralateral limb or after pelvic node dissection.
- Forgetting that rehabilitation goals are patient-defined (function, independence, return to work, dignity).
Worked example / rule of thumb
A woman with breast cancer after axillary dissection develops arm swelling. The rule of thumb: measure and stage lymphedema, refer to specialist physiotherapy, and combine compression with exercise-early, structured intervention prevents progression. Similarly, screen every patient for distress at each visit; distress is the "sixth vital sign" and triggers referral.
Understand that rehabilitation is not only for curative patients; palliative rehabilitation improves function and quality of life even in advanced disease.