Impact of breast surgical procedure on survival in BRCA mutated patients with invasive breast cancer: Mastectomy versus conservative treatment

Abstract

IntroductionPatients with BRCA1/2 mutations have a higher risk of developing breast cancer compared to the wild-type population. For patients with a BRCA mutation, there are no specific recommendations for surgical management. The aim of this study was therefore to retrospectively investigate overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) of BRCA mutated patients with localized invasive breast cancer, by comparing conservative surgery versus mastectomy. MethodsThis study was based on data from the Côte d'Or breast and gynecological cancer registry. Data from patients with a constitutional BRCA1/2 mutation who presented with invasive breast cancer were collected retrospectively from 1998 to 2018. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to describe RFS and OS. ResultsA total of 104 patients were included in the analysis, of whom 69 had conservative surgery and 35 underwent mastectomy. Regarding survival, there was no significant difference in OS (HR =1.49; 95 % confidence interval (CI) [0.76–2.93], p = 0.25). Similarly, there was no significant difference in RFS (HR =1.40; 95 % CI [0.81–2.40], p = 0.22), survival without homolateral recurrence (HR =0.88; 95 % CI [0.30–2.61], p = 0.89), without contralateral recurrence (HR =1.50; 95 % CI [0.55–4.09], p = 0.42), or without distant metastatic recurrence (HR =1.42, 95 % CI [0.69–2.90], p = 0.33). ConclusionIn invasive breast cancer in a patient with a germline BRCA1/2 mutation, conservative surgery, when possible, appears to be a feasible option over total mastectomy, with no difference in overall survival. However, the patient should be informed of the aggressive nature of recurrence in this population requiring chemotherapy in most cases.