Background: The goal of the present study was to evaluate the impact of delayed autologous breast reconstruction on disease relapse in breast cancer patients treated with mastectomy.
Material and methods: The study was based on 503 consecutive patients younger than 70 years of age who underwent mastectomy between January 2000 and December 2003. Overall, 391 (78 %) received mastectomy alone and 112 (22 %) underwent a delayed breast reconstruction. The median time from mastectomy to delayed breast reconstruction was 34 months. The median duration of follow-up was 102 months.
Results: There were no locoregional recurrences (LRR) in patients who underwent delayed reconstruction (0.0 %); 21 LRR developed in patients treated with mastectomy only (5.4 %), P = 0.011. Distant metastases occurred less frequently in the reconstruction group (12.5 %) than in the patients who underwent mastectomy alone (21.5 %); P = 0.0343. The 8-year breast cancer specific survival in the reconstruction group was 98.2 and 85.7 % for the mastectomy only group, P = 0.000.
Conclusions: Delayed autologous breast reconstruction does not appear to adversely influence disease progression when compared to patients treated with mastectomy only.