Local recurrence risk after skin-sparing and conventional mastectomy: A 6-year follow-up

In this study, the records of all patients at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center with T1 or T2 breast cancer who were treated betwee n March of 1986 and November of 1990 with mastectomy followed by immediate breast reconstruction were reviewed for the presence of recurrent disease. Patients with in situ disease were not included. Patients were included in the study if a local recurrence occurred (regardless of the length df follo wup) or if a follow-up of 6 years or longer could be obtained. Patients wer e grouped according to the use or nonuse of skin-sparing mastectomy, by tum or stage, and by nuclear grade of the tumor. The series included 154 patien ts, of whom 114 had skin-sparing mastectomies and 40 had nonskin-sparing ma stectomies. The local recurrence rate in the skin-sparing mastectomy group was 7.0 percent, whereas in the nonskin-sparing mastectomy group it was 7.5 percent. The sample size in the nonskin-sparing mastectomy group was too s mall for meaningful statistical analysis, but the data suggest that there i s no clinically important difference in recurrence rates between the mio gr oups. We conclude that the use of skin-sparing technique for early breast c ancer patients does not significantly increase the risk of tumor recurrence after mastectomy.