Is mastectomy with immediate breast reconstruction an alternative to breast-conserving treatment?

Abstract

Beside the fact that breast-conserving treatment is the method of choice in early breast cancer, several studies have demonstrated good results when mastectomy is involved in the treatment. Such studies are currently increasing. Immediate breast reconstruction is gaining popularity as the method that mitigates post-mastectomy deformation. Comparing breast-conserving treatment and immediate breast reconstruction after mastectomy both methods did not worsen the treatment outcome and have a positive impact to quality of life. However, the complications rate is higher after mastectomy with immediate breast reconstruction, especially in the subgroup of patients receiving postmastectomy radiotherapy. Breast-conserving therapy additionally gives the opportunity to avoid axillary lymph nodes dissection in the subgroup of patients with positive 1–2 sentinel nodes. It should be taken into consideration when a treatment schedule is established, that breast-conserving therapy has an advantage regarding risk of complications.