Does neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer increase complications during immediate breast reconstruction?

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) has been administered since the 1990s and is now one of the major treatments for breast cancer. It can achieve extremely positive results in some patients. Whether NAC affects immediate breast reconstruction (IBR) using an expander, however, remains unclear.

A retrospective study was performed at Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) hospital. Seventy-five cases of immediate breast reconstruction using an expander were performed in 69 patients between January 2001 and January 2007. The patients were evaluated for tumor size, histological type, sites of invasion, staging, lymph node metastasis, NAC regimen, response to NAC, type of immediate breast reconstruction (IBR), complications, and prognosis.

In patients treated with an expander, there was no significant difference in the complication rate between those who underwent NAC and those who did not.

NAC did not increase the complication rate after IBR using an expander. However, for reconstruction using autologous tissue, more data are needed.