Reconstructive surgeries as an option for surgical rehabilitation in breast cancer treatment: A literature review

Abstract

Relevance: Today, breast cancer (BC) occupies a leading position in the structure of cancer incidence among the female population. According to WHO, in 2022, over 2,296,840 million cases of primary detection worldwide were registered, amounting to 11.7% of all new cancer cases, and more than 685,000 women died from this disease (6.9% of the total mortality). The surgical method remains the leading one and is being improved yearly due to the increasing early detection in relatively young and non-disabled patients. Reconstructive surgery is gaining more and more popularity as a component of a rehabilitation program.

The study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of modern reconstructive surgeries (RS) on the mammary gland during surgical rehabilitation.

Methods: The search for scientific publications was carried out in the databases Scopus, PubMed, and e-Library published over the past 10 years, starting in 2014. According to the search results, more than 2,700 articles were found, of which 36 sources were selected according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Results: The effectiveness of the use of RS in the surgical rehabilitation of patients with breast cancer has been established, depending on the localization and pathomorphological characteristics of the tumor. Patients' satisfaction with the aesthetic result was assessed using the Breast-Q questionnaire. According to the results of randomized, single-center, and multicenter studies meta-analyses, there is a steady increase in the trend of applying simultaneous and delayed RS in treating BC.

Conclusion: RS is an advanced method of surgical rehabilitation. The main objective of this method is to ensure a high level of psychosexual well-being and satisfaction with the quality of life in patients while maintaining oncological safety. Despite this, oncological safety requires constant improvement and deeper study of each technique. Analyzing RS's early and long-term results will allow you to choose the optimal method for each patient based on the need for aesthetically safe and reliable surgical rehabilitation.