Analysis of the breast cancer progression frequency depending on the amount of surgical treatment performed after neoadjuvant drug therapy

Purpose. To compare the incidence of breast cancer (BC) relapse after subcutaneous mastectomy and Madden radical mastectomy.

Patients and methods. The study included 102 patients diagnosed with BC with stages IIB – III, who underwent neoadjuvant drug therapy with a subsequent surgical stage of treatment on the basis of the Tver Regional Clinical Oncology Dispensary from 2017 to 2020. The main group included 50 patients who underwent subcutaneous mastectomy with simultaneous installation of an endoprosthesis: stage IIB – 31 (62 %) patients; stage III – 19 (38 %) patients. The comparison group included 52 patients who underwent surgical treatment in volume – radical mastectomy according to Madden (RME): Stage IIB – 34 (65.4 %) patients; stage III – 18 (34.6 %) patients. Depending on the subtype of the tumor, patients received neoadjuvant drug therapy.

Results. During the three-year follow-up period, the progression of the disease after subcutaneous RME was detected in 7 (14 %) patients. Locoregional relapses accounted for 4 cases (8 %), progression to distant organs 3 cases (6 %). After the Madden RME, disease progression was detected in 6 (11.5 %) patients. Locoregional relapses accounted for 3 cases (5.7 %), progression to distant organs 3 cases (5.7 %). The detected foci did not always coincide with the primary subtype of the tumor: in 5 cases the subtype was different (38.5 %), in 8 cases it coincided (61.5 %).

Conclusion. The frequency of development of locoregional and distant metastases did not statistically depend on the volume of surgical intervention (p > 0.05). It is reasonable to conduct a histological examination in case of progression to determine the tactics of treatment.

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