Armor Study

ARMOR is enrolling patients with lymph node-positive breast cancer from thirteen centres across Canada. The goal of the study is to better understand how lymph node surgery for breast cancer affects arm symptoms and quality of life. Your lymph node surgery and other treatments will be chosen by your doctors and will not be influenced by your participation in this study.

ARMOR is led by Dr. Alison Laws, a breast surgeon based at the University of Calgary. The study will be centrally managed by a team at the University of Calgary, along with researchers and their teams at each participating centre.

What will I be asked to do?

1. Complete a series of surveys before surgery and then at 1 month, 1 year and 2 years following surgery.

Surveys will be sent and completed electronically
Surveys will take approximately 15 minutes to complete
Surveys will ask questions about how your arm feels, how your breast feels, your emotional health and your ability to do different activities
All questions are multiple choice, and you will select a response on a scale that best matches your experience (e.g. “Not at all” to “Very much”)
Any questions that you are not comfortable answering can be skipped

2. Provide consent for the research team to access your medical record and collect relevant information related to your diagnosis and treatment.

Why is this study important?

Results from this study will help us improve care for people with lymph node-positive breast cancer in the future by:

Providing more accurate information before surgery about possible side effects
Better monitoring and enabling earlier treatment of side effects
Helping choose surgical treatments with fewer side effects, when they are still effective at controlling the cancer

There may be no direct benefit to you by participating in this study. However, your participation will help improve care for future patients.

Study Eligibility

1. Have a breast cancer diagnosis with the following characteristics:

Tumour is not growing through the skin or muscle (i.e. clinical T-stage 1-3)
Lymph nodes in the underarm (i.e. axilla) containing breast cancer cells
Hormone receptor-positive and HER2-negative

2. Having surgery as the initial treatment, including axillary lymph node surgery.

Study Background

Arm Morbidity following Axillary Surgery for Node-Positive Breast Cancer (ARMOR study)

Some patients with breast cancer will have spread to the underarm (i.e. axilla) lymph nodes. This may be found on physical exam or imaging, or sometimes only seen under the microscope after surgery.

There are a few different types of lymph node surgery that may be used:

Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB): A dye is used to map the lymphatic system and the first few lymph nodes that drain the breast are removed (usually about 2 nodes)

Tailored axillary surgery (TAS): Lymph nodes that look or feel abnormal are removed, along with the first draining lymph nodes identified using dye (usually about 3-8 nodes).

Axillary lymph node dissection (ALND): All of the lymph nodes within the underarm area are removed (usually about 17 nodes).

We already know some of the possible side effects of lymph node surgery from older studies. However, breast cancer treatments and surgical techniques have changed over time. This means we need updated information to better understand what patients experience today.

Welcome to The ARMOR Study

What will I be asked to do?

Why is this study important?

Study Eligibility

Study Background

Contact Us

For further information please email us at: armor@ucalgary.ca

Welcome to The ARMOR Study

What will I be asked to do?

Why is this study important?

Study Eligibility

Study Background

Contact Us

For further information please email us at: armor@ucalgary.ca

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