title: Do breast implants after a mastectomy affect subsequent prognosis and survival?
abstract: In a large study, published in this issue of Breast Cancer Research, Le and colleagues report that women receiving implants after mastectomies for early-stage breast cancer experience lower breast cancer mortality than women not receiving implants. Assessment of survival patterns among women receiving reconstructive implants is complex given unique patient characteristics, disease attributes, and treatment patterns. The interpretation of reduced mortality from breast cancer must be assessed in light of significantly reduced risks of death from most other causes. In contrast, patients receiving post-mastectomy implants had elevated rates of suicide, consistent with findings among women with cosmetic implants. Additional well-designed investigations are needed to clarify survival patterns among women receiving reconstructive implants.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA. Brinton@nih.gov
authors.forename: Louise A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Brinton
mesh_terms: D019928:Breast Implantation / Q000523:psychology; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000523:psychology / Q000601:surgery*; D002423:Cause of Death; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008408:Mastectomy; D011379:Prognosis; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018401:Sample Size; D013405:Suicide; D016019:Survival Analysis
references.citation: Plast Reconstr Surg. 2000 Mar;105(3):910-8
references.pmid: 10724250
references.citation: Breast Cancer Res. 2005;7(2):R184-93
references.pmid: 15743498
references.citation: Plast Reconstr Surg. 2000 Mar;105(3):919-27; discussion 928-9
references.pmid: 10724251
references.citation: Ann Plast Surg. 2000 Oct;45(4):349-56
references.pmid: 11037154
references.citation: J Am Coll Surg. 2001 Jan;192(1):1-8
references.pmid: 11192909
references.citation: Epidemiology. 2001 May;12(3):321-6
references.pmid: 11337605
references.citation: Ann Plast Surg. 2003 Jan;50(1):6-12
references.pmid: 12545102
references.citation: Plast Reconstr Surg. 2003 Feb;111(2):695-703; discussion 704-5
references.pmid: 12560690
references.citation: BMJ. 2003 Mar 8;326(7388):527-8
references.pmid: 12623911
references.citation: J Long Term Eff Med Implants. 2002;12(4):271-9
references.pmid: 12627789
references.citation: Ann Plast Surg. 2003 Oct;51(4):339-42; discussion 343-4
references.pmid: 14520056
references.citation: J Natl Cancer Inst. 2004 Mar 17;96(6):443-8
references.pmid: 15026469
references.citation: Ann Oncol. 2004 Jun;15(6):850-1
references.pmid: 15151938
references.citation: Plast Reconstr Surg. 2004 Jul;114(1):217-26; discussion 227-8
references.pmid: 15220596
references.citation: Ann Surg Oncol. 2004 Aug;11(8):762-71
references.pmid: 15249342
references.citation: Plast Reconstr Surg. 2004 Sep 15;114(4):950-60
references.pmid: 15468404
references.citation: Cancer. 2004 Oct 1;101(7):1514-23
references.pmid: 15378473
references.citation: Scand J Plast Reconstr Surg. 1978;12(3):295-8
references.pmid: 741220
references.citation: Ann Plast Surg. 1979 Jan;2(1):42-52
references.pmid: 420486
references.citation: Ann Plast Surg. 1984 Oct;13(4):279-97
references.pmid: 6497276
references.citation: N Engl J Med. 1997 Mar 6;336(10):677-82
references.pmid: 9041097