A 43-Year-Old Woman Notices a Lump in Her Left Breast

A 43-year-old woman notices a lump in her left breast which upon pathological examination of a needle biopsy is diagnosed as stage 3 adenocarcinoma of the mammary gland. She elects to have a single mastectomy and the surgeon also removes several axillary lymph nodes to be examined to determine the tumor's state of metastasis. The patient recovers well from the surgery, but at a 6-month follow-up visit at the clinic her upper left arm is seen to be swollen and the surgeon prescribes a bandage wrap for "lymph edema." This condition likely resulted from which of the following?

A) Angiogenesis from arterial branches that brought blood to the left breast
B) Growth of cancer cells and blockage of lymphatic drainage from the left arm
C) Surgical disruption of the left arm's lymphatic drainage by removal of lymph nodes
D) Surgical damage to the thoracic duct during lymph node removal
E) Hypertrophy of the vessels in the upper arm to accommodate blood otherwise flowing to the left breast