Aesthetic result among breast cancer patients undergoing autologous breast reconstruction versus breast conserving therapy.
OBJECTIVE
Following breast-conserving surgery or mastectomy followed by autologous breast reconstruction, breast cancer patients were studied to discover their satisfaction with the aesthetic results of the two treatment strategies.


METHODS
One hundred and thirty-four breast cancer patients were included in this study. Sixty-four underwent breast-conserving surgery followed by radiotherapy. Mastectomy was performed in 70 patients with immediate or late reconstruction. To evaluate the quality of the aesthetic results in both groups we designed a questionnaire assessing different cosmetic categories.


RESULTS
Patients in both therapy groups showed a very high satisfaction with their cosmetic results; the patients undergoing breast reconstruction were even more satisfied than the patients who had breast-conserving therapy.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study demonstrated that breast reconstruction with autologous tissue offers an opportunity to support patients with advanced breast cancer who were confronted with mastectomy, showing a high degree of satisfaction with the cosmetic results.
Dian
Darius
D
University Hospital Munich, Munich, Germany. darius.dian@med.uni-muenchen.de
Schwenn
Katja
K
Mylonas
Ioannis
I
Janni
Wolfgang
W
Jaenicke
Fritz
F
Friese
Klaus
K
D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery*; D004954:Esthetics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016462:Mammaplasty / Q000379:methods*; D015412:Mastectomy, Segmental; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous