WEDNESDAY, June 8 (HealthDay News) -- Lipofilling may be a safe procedure for breast reconstruction in most patients who undergo surgery for primary breast cancer, according to a study published online May 24 in the Annals of Oncology.
Jean Y. Petit, M.D., from the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, Italy, and colleagues assessed the potential risk of cancer growth and reappearance in 321 women who had surgery for a primary breast tumor between 1997 and 2008 and subsequently underwent lipofilling for breast reconstruction. Each woman in the lipofilling group was matched with two controls who did not undergo lipofilling after breast cancer surgery. The participants were followed up for an average 56 months from the time of primary surgery and 26 months from lipofilling.
The investigators found that the two groups had comparable cumulative incidence curves with eight women from the lipofilling group and 19 from the control group having a local event (P = 0.792). These results were confirmed when analysis was carried out separately for patients undergoing quadrantectomy and mastectomy, and for patients with invasive tumors. In analysis restricted to 37 patients with intraepithelial neoplasia, the risk of a local event was higher in the lipofilling group than the control group.
"According to these preliminary results, lipofilling seems to be a safe procedure in breast cancer patients. Longer follow-up and other experiences from oncological series are urgently required to confirm these findings," the authors write.
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