Older women may not be offered breast reconstruction after mastectomy

A national study from England indicates that older women are often not offered immediate breast reconstruction following a mastectomy, even though guidelines state that surgeons should discuss reconstruction with all suitable patients and that it should be available at the initial surgical operation.

The findings suggest a need for clinicians to audit their own—and their organization's—decision-making processes around offering immediate breast reconstruction, and to deal with any that may be present.

"Immediate breast reconstruction aims to improve the quality of life of women with breast cancer who have a mastectomy. It should be offered to women unless the cancer has spread too far or a woman is too unwell to have this major surgery," said Ranjeet Jeevan, lead author of the British Journal of Surgery study. "Our study found that while breast cancer clinicians considered these factors in younger women, immediate reconstruction was offered less often to with suitable tumours and who were fit enough for surgery. Clinicians should consider adopting a standardised assessment tool to identify all women suitable for ."

More information: R. Jeevan et al, Association between age and access to immediate breast reconstruction in women undergoing mastectomy forbreast cancer, British Journal of Surgery (2017). DOI: 10.1002/bjs.10453

Journal information: British Journal of Surgery
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Citation: Older women may not be offered breast reconstruction after mastectomy (2017, February 8) retrieved 29 March 2024 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-02-older-women-breast-reconstruction-mastectomy.html
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