Radiotherapy and breast reconstruction after surgical treatment of breast cancer

Abstract

Considering the psychosocial beneits obtained with immediate breast reconstruction (IBR), this procedure has been increasingly applied in Brazil, mainly in the immediate surgical context. he two main modalities of IBR used are the ones that employ autogenous tissue or artiicial breast implants or expanders. here is no consensus regarding the ideal time to carry out the IBR within the multimodal context of oncological treatment, especially when there is indication of radiotherapy (RT) ater the mastectomy – which depends on the surgical specimen – and also considering the lack of randomized studies comparing RT preand post-plasty. here is a rationale followed by many large American centers, to choose RT before IBR for two main reasons: Ater the procedure, tissue that does not belong to the breast bed (muscle laps, skin and prosthesis) would be irradiated without need. he IBR carried out before the RT can lead to inadequate planning, either with excessive irradiation of adjacent organs, or insuicient irradiation of the surgical bed and/or lymph node draining. Other obstacles to be faced are related to the size of breast reconstruction that is carried out, which very oten modiies the patient’s anatomy due to the large-volume plasty and the use of expanders with metallic components within the irradiation ield, which can result in regions of under and overdose, clinically translating as a higher chance of developing complications ater the RT. Moreover, breast medialization, symmastia and lat chest naturally impair radiotherapy planning. On the other hand, in addition to the aforementioned psychological gain with the immediate breast reconstruction, another justiication by those supporting this technique is that RT can compromise the skin and subjacent tissue quality, thus impairing the plasty, consequently afecting the cosmetic results. In this context, complications can arise ater IBR folGUSTAVO NADER MARTA, SAMIR ABDALLAH HANNA, EDUARDO MARTELLA, JOAO LUIS FERNANDES DA SILVA