Outcome of surgical resection for chest wall recurrence in breast cancer patients.

Abstract

Although recurrent breast cancer is a systemic disease, there might be several exceptions where local treatment has a favorable outcome. From 1989 to 1996, 15 patients underwent full thickness chest wall resection, supported by peri- and postoperative systemic treatments for patients with isolated chest wall recurrences, including soft tissue local recurrence and parasternal lymph node metastasis. The 5-year survival rate after surgical removal was 47%. Patients with > 5-year disease-free intervals (DFI) after mastectomy showed a long survival after chest wall resection. Local failures appeared in four cases whose surgical margins were positive. No serious complication except one pyothorax occurred after surgery. It is suggested that surgical treatment with a full thickness chest wall resection might have a favorable prognosis for selected patients with solitary lesion and long DFI.