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Nonimaging aspects of follow‐up in breast cancer reconstruction
Author(s) -
Wood William C.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(19910901)68:5+<1164::aid-cncr2820681307>3.0.co;2-5
Subject(s) - medicine , palpation , breast cancer , reconstructive surgery , breast reconstruction , mammography , radiology , fat necrosis , mammaplasty , breast carcinoma , surgery , cancer
Follow‐up of patients with breast cancer is directed to the early detection of recurrent or metastatic disease and the detection of new primary breast cancer. The survival benefit of early detection is limited to some patients with local failure or new primary tumors. That imaging is not used in follow‐up of patients who have had breast cancer reconstruction is related to possible interference with this putative benefit by the reconstructive procedure. Such follow‐up is accomplished by the patient's own surveillance, clinical examination, and laboratory testing supplemented by imaging studies. Clinical follow‐up trials of women who have undergone breast reconstructive surgery show no evidence that locally recurrent breast carcinoma is masked when compared with follow‐up of women who did not undergo reconstructive procedures. Reshaping of the contralateral breast to match the reconstructed breast introduces the possibility of interference with palpation as well as mammographic distortion in some women. This is an uncommon practical problem except when complicated by fat necrosis. Cancer 68:1164–1166, 1991.