Keystone Perforator Island Flap for Postmastectomy Defect Resurfacing in Late-stage Breast Cancer Patients

Late-stage breast cancer usually presents with locally advanced disease, with or without metastasis. The primary tumor is typically large with skin infiltration which affects quality of life. Surgical resection will result in an extensive defect which potentially deteriorates patients' quality of life if not properly managed. Keystone perforator island flap (KPIF) is a local advancement flap based on multiple perforators which can be a reliable reconstructive method to close an extensive defect.

This is a case series of 11 patients with symptomatic late-stage breast cancers indicated for neoadjuvant chemotherapy and subsequent mastectomy at Dharmais Cancer Hospital. The postmastectomy defect was closed with KPIF and clinical evaluation included flap success rate, percentage of flap necrotic area, and quality of life. There are modifications of the KPIF consisting of the more rounded shape and additional flap movement of the flap's distal lateral ends to the center resembling an "omega" conformation.

Mean percentage of flap necrosis area was 9.7% and none of the patients needed additional surgery. The patients' quality of life evaluated using Patient-reported Aesthetic European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life, Questionnaire-Core 30-questions (QLQ-C30) and Quality of Life, Questionnaire-Breast Cancer-23-questions (QLQ-BR23) was fair, with sufficiently good scores for global health status and functional scale, and minimal symptomatology burden. The lowest score was for fatigue and financial difficulties parameters from QLQ-C30 and sexual functioning and future perspective from QLQ-BR23.

This is a preliminary study to show that a KPIF could be considered as a method for defect-resurfacing reconstruction after mastectomy.