NEWEST BREAST CANCER SURGERY AND RECONSTRUCTION SPARES NIPPLE – MGH Study of Nipple-Sparing Reconstruction
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, CAMBRIDGE, MA, August 8, 9:00 AM:
A new study published in the Journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery from the Massachusetts General Hospital, a WorldPath Health network affiliate institution, analyzed 500 breast reconstructions performed over a five-year period. Immediate breast reconstruction after a nipple-sparing mastectomy was very successful for the vast majority of patients, and the complication rate was found to be low.
Nipple-sparing mastectomies, in which the patient’s natural nipple is not removed, have become increasingly more common. Patients usually want to preserve as much of their own breast as possible, including the nipple. Cosmetic results of this approach to mastectomy and reconstruction are often superior to other methods and this study indicates that it is safe for patients undergoing breast cancer treatment.
Although this reconstruction is most often performed using multiple procedures, most of breast reconstruction in this study were performed in one surgery immediately following the nipple-sparing mastectomy, allowing the patient to awaken from the surgery with the breast reconstruction already completed.
Increasing numbers of patients are eligible for nipple sparing mastectomy followed by immediate reconstruction both for treatment of cancer an for cancer risk reduction surgery. Massachusetts General Hospital has performed over 1,000 nipple sparing mastectomies, making it one of the largest centers for this procedure and reconstruction in the world.
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