Background: We conducted a comprehensive systematic review of the literature and meta-analysis of the oncologic outcomes of breast reconstruction (BR) after mastectomy and mastectomy only. This study aimed to analyze the impact of BR on the prognosis of patients with breast cancer.
Methods: A systematic search of MEDLINE and EMBASE databases was performed using the following keywords: breast cancer, mastectomy, and BR. Inclusion criteria were studies reporting the survival data of patients after mastectomy only and mastectomy with BR. Event-free survival (EFS), breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS), and overall survival (OS) were considered the indicators of oncological outcomes. As all the included studies were non-randomized trials, we used the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) for risk of bias assessment. The effect of BR on survival was measured using the effect size of the hazard ratio (HR). Data from each study were analyzed using the Review Manager.
Results: Fifteen studies with 20,948 cases of BR and 63,358 cases of mastectomy were included. The pooled HRs for EFS and BCSS were 1.07 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.78-1.47, P=0.65] and 0.84 (95% CI: 0.64-1.11, P=0.22), respectively. The patients who underwent BR after mastectomy had similar EFS and BCSS scores. Furthermore, patients who received BR had better OS (HR =0.73; 95% CI: 0.61-0.88, P=0.001) than those who underwent mastectomy only.
Conclusions: The data showed that BR after mastectomy had similar EFS and BCSS and better OS than mastectomy alone. Our meta-analysis suggests that BR is a practicable and safe treatment option for patients with breast cancer.
Keywords: Breast cancer; breast reconstruction (BR); mastectomy; prognosis.
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