Reconstructive surgery OK for breast cancer patients, Huntsman Cancer Institute study says

SALT LAKE CITY — A study from researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah shows reconstructive surgery following a mastectomy does not delay or interfere with breast cancer treatment.

The study is published in the current issue of The Breast Journal — a publication focused on research, diagnosis and treatment of breast-related diseases.

Researchers obtained statistics from more than 5,000 patients using the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results cancer database. The research focused on data for all female patients with breast cancer treated with mastectomy from 1998 to 2002.

"We found overall survival in patients who chose breast reconstruction was actually significantly higher than in the patients who did not," said Dr. Jay Agarwal, a surgeon and investigator at HCI. "What we found was that the survival rate for patients who chose reconstruction was no worse than the rate for patients who did not."

The analysis should provide reassurance to patients and physicians that breast reconstruction should be offered to breast cancer patients as part of the normal course of care, he added.

Even though the cost of the surgery is covered by insurance, four out of five women do not receive reconstruction after mastectomy, researchers said.

Agarwal said a lack of information about reconstruction or fears about reconstruction interfering with breast cancer treatment may explain the statistic. The study also discovered that racial disparities exist.

For example, 17.9 percent of Caucasian women underwent reconstruction after having a mastectomy. That number dropped to 15.6 percent for African-American women, 14.0 percent for Hispanic women and 9.7 percent for Asian women.

The research supports other smaller studies showing a connection between reconstruction and higher survival rates, the study stated.

"The similarity in our results and other studies provides compelling evidence in support of an association between survival and reconstruction status," Agarwal said.

"Future research should attempt to determine the nature of this association."

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