Nursing’s Mei Fu Honored for Advances in Lymphedema Research

Mei R. Fu, assistant professor of nursing research at NYU’s College of Nursing, has devoted her career to researching the impact of women’s lymphedema —the abnormal and debilitating arm swelling that can follow breast cancer surgery. In December, the Journal of Nursing Scholarship will publish her article on the subject—coauthored by Judith Haber and Deborah Axelrod—which emphasizes that more must be done to educate breast cancer survivors about strategies to reduce the risk of lymphedema. Prior to publication, this manuscript won the Oncology Nursing Society Excellence in Cancer Nursing Research Award.
    About 20 to 27 percent of women who have had surgery for invasive breast cancer will develop lymphedema. Any women who has had this surgery—some 170,000 per year—are at risk of developing lymphedema at some point in their lives.
    In her recent study, Fu was the first researcher to explore whether the risk-reduction behaviors recommended by the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute were successful in decreasing symptoms.  She developed an instrument to measure women’s behavior, knowledge, and motivation to practice risk-reduction behaviors and strategies. Then, with funding from the Avon Foundation, she examined the impact of the education provided to breast cancer patients. Her effort was the first to provide initial evidence that offering education to breast cancer patients does affect their practice and, subsequently, reduces symptoms.
    “Many women say that the message they have received from the health care system is, ‘You survived breast cancer, so you shouldn’t complain,” says Fu. “Looking through the landscape of lymphedema, you can see why it is so important to have nurses as leaders in research.  Nurses are not just interested in the quantity of life but in its quality.”
    Fu serves on the steering committee of the American Lymphedema Framework, an initiative supported by the American Cancer Society focusing on best practice for lymphedema.  She also serves on committees for the Oncology Nursing Society and National Lymphedema Network. Since she came to NYU in 2003, her work on lymphedema has expanded considerably through her relationship with NYU Langone Medical Center, which has enabled her to work with breast cancer patients throughout the metropolitan area.  
    “This is a personal passion of mine, because I really want to make a difference in practice,” Fu says.  “And the only way to make a real difference is to provide evidence.”