Immediate and delayed breast reconstruction post-mastectomy for women with breast cancer

Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumor among women; approximately 12.5% of all women in the industrialized countries will develop breast cancer in their lives. One of the cornerstones of breast cancer treatment is surgery along with radiation therapy and systemic treatment with chemotherapy, endocrine manipulation. Breast cancer is in fact a heterogeneous disease representing a broad spectrum of biologic potential. Current treatment is highly multidisciplinary, requiring close collaboration between the diagnostic radiologist, oncologic surgeon, medical oncologist, and radiotherapist. For women facing mastectomy, a good cosmetic outcome is one of the principle goals of Breast Reconstruction (BR) surgery. Measurement of cosmesis is therefore critical,and it is essential that measures are accurate and reliable to make valid comparisons between different types of surgery. The psychosocial benefits of breast reconstruction in the treatment of breast cancer have been widely accepted with most authors offering women the option of breast reconstruction at the time of mastectomy or as a delayed procedure if immediate reconstruction is contraindicated. Breast reconstruction can be achieved with the use of tissue expanders and implants or with autologous tissues such as the Latissimus Dorsi Flaps (LDF), Transverse Rectus Abdominis Myocutaneous (TRAM) flap, Deep Inferior Epigastric artery Perforator (DIEP) and gluteal flaps. There is disagreement in the literature regarding the best method of breast cancer reconstruction and debate on how to assess this.Objectives: The aim of the work is to review the immediate and delayed procedures for breast reconstruction in women after mastectomy as regard final cosmetic appearance and overall patient satisfaction..