Oncologic Outcomes of Nipple-Sparing Mastectomy with Immediate Breast Reconstruction in Patients with Tumor-Nipple Distance Less than 2.0 cm

PURPOSE: Although the indications for nipple-sparing mastectomy (NSM) are expanding, there remains a debate regarding the oncologic outcomes of patients treated with this method, especially those with a short tumor–nipple distance (STND). The aim of this study was to compare the long-term oncologic outcomes between patients with a long tumor–nipple distance (LTND) (≥ 2.0 cm) and those with STND (< 2.0 cm). METHODS: This was a retrospective study in which 266 patients who underwent NSM with immediate breast reconstruction between January 2008 and December 2014 at a single institution were enrolled. Of these patients, 21 were excluded because of loss to follow-up; thus, 245 patients were finally analyzed. All patients underwent preoperative breast magnetic resonance imaging and intraoperative frozen biopsy. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 42.4 years. STND was identified in 128 patients, and LTND in 117 patients. The mean follow-up period was 60.5 months. There were no significant differences between the 2 groups with respect to lymphovascular invasion, nuclear grade, nodal status, and subtype (p = 0.339, 0.372, 0.955, and 0.338, respectively). The STND group had significantly smaller tumors than the LTND group (p = 0.005). The median TND in the STND and LTND groups was 0.7 cm and 3.0 cm, respectively. Locoregional recurrence was reported in 4 patients in the STND group (3.1%) and 6 (5.1%) in the LTND group. A total of 3 patients died (1.2%; 2 in the STND group and one in the LTND group). There was no significant difference between the 2 groups with respect to disease-free survival or local recurrence-free survival (p = 0.334 and p = 0.477, respectively). CONCLUSION: The long-term oncologic outcomes of patients treated with NSM did not significantly differ according to TND when the intraoperative frozen biopsy was negative for tumor cells.