Oncoplastic breast conservation does not delay chemotherapy

Oncoplastic breast conservation surgery (OBCS) is a surgical technique that can preserve breast tissue after the removal of the tumor. However, there is a concern that OBCS would delay chemotherapy treatment, resulting in worse outcome. Here, researchers examined whether women undergoing OBCS wait longer to begin chemotherapy than women undergoing conventional surgery.

OBCS merges the principles of plastic surgery, with breast conserving surgery (BCS; removal of the tumor with the surrounding tissue but not of the entire breast). Although OBCS provides the patient with a more aesthetically acceptable breast after surgery, cosmetic procedures should not be conducted at the expense of therapy. Ideally, OBCS would not prevent patients from beginning chemotherapy in a timely manner. To assess whether a delay in treatment exists, researchers compared OBCS to other forms of breast surgery. These included wide local excisions (WLE; removal of the tumor without removing the entire breast), mastectomy (Ms; removal of the entire breast) or mastectomy with immediate reconstruction (MsIR; removal of the entire breast followed by plastic surgery).

This study compared 169 patients with breast cancer who received OBCS (31 patients), WLE (66 patients), Ms (56 patients), or MsIR (16 patients) as treatment. All patients received standard chemotherapy after surgery. There was no difference in the time before chemotherapy between patients receiving OBCS, WLE, Ms, or MsIR. The average waiting time before chemotherapy among all patients was between 29 to 31 days after surgery.

Oncoplastic breast conservation surgery does not delay the beginning of chemotherapy in breast cancer patients.

Although this study showed OBCS does not affect the time to chemotherapy, this study did not address whether OBCS is as effective as other types of surgery with regards to cancer recurrence and survival.

Consult with your physician regarding the option of oncoplastic breast conservation surgery.