Patients who undergo breast reconstruction using abdominal tissue have no increased risk of breast cancer recurrence, according to a new study published in the British Journal of Surgery.
The authors—a group of researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden—compared data from 250 patients who underwent deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap reconstruction surgery between 1999 and 2013 with data from more than 700 control patients.
Overall, breast cancer recurrence developed in more than 19 percent of patients who underwent DIEP flap reconstruction surgery and more than 23 percent of patients from the control group. In addition, the 5-year breast cancer-specific survival rate was 92 percent for patients who underwent DIEP flap reconstruction surgery and more than 87 percent for patients from the control group.
“Our study demonstrates that there is no increased risk of recurrence for women who undergo this type of reconstruction,” lead author Hannah Adam said in a prepared statement from the Karolinska Institutet. “Moreover, the survival rate was higher for the DIEP group than the control group.”
The authors also found that five-year DFS rates were more than 83 percent for patients who underwent DIEP flap reconstruction surgery and more than 77 percent for patients in the control group, but that difference was not large enough to be viewed as statistically significant.
“These results conflict with some earlier publications on increased rates of breast cancer recurrence following large‐flap breast reconstruction, although the results of most studies are in line with the present findings,” the authors wrote.
Michael has more than 16 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.