Contralateral prophylactic mastectomy and implications for breast reconstruction

Katherine B Santosa; Jeremie D Oliver; Adeyiza O Momoh

doi:10.21037/gs.2020.03.15

Contralateral prophylactic mastectomy and implications for breast reconstruction

Gland Surg. 2021 Jan;10(1):498-506. doi: 10.21037/gs.2020.03.15.

Authors

Katherine B Santosa¹, Jeremie D Oliver², Adeyiza O Momoh¹

Affiliations

¹ Section of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
² Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Dentistry, School of Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.

Abstract

Contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) rates have continued to rise in the United States, impacting all stakeholders including plastic and reconstructive surgeons. Multiple factors may be influencing this trend, including patient decision-making characteristics, knowledge about breast cancer disease and prognosis, advances in genetic testing and enhanced imaging capabilities, sociodemographic factors, and access to specialty surgical services such as breast reconstruction. In this review, the authors shed light on the current state of CPM and summarize the literature analyzing its increasing prevalence in the United States, as well as outline future directions for study and dissemination of knowledge from providers to patients surrounding this important and complex treatment decision.

Keywords: Prophylactic mastectomy; patient outcome assessment; postoperative complications.

Publication types

Review