Delay in the initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer with mastectomy with or without immediate breast reconstruction

BACKGROUND: Patients with breast cancer undergoing mastectomy should be offered the option of immediate breast reconstruction (IBR). The aim of this retrospective study was to assess whether there is a delay in the initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients undergoing mastectomy with or without IBR. METHOD: The study included patients aged 70 years or younger with clinically node-negative breast cancer who underwent unilateral mastectomy with IBR (IBR group) or mastectomy alone (no-IBR group) followed by adjuvant chemotherapy at the Helsinki University Hospital between January 2012 to July 2018. RESULTS: A total of 645 patients were included; 186 in the IBR group and 459 in the no-IBR group. Sixty-six (35.5 per cent) patients in the IBR group and 102 (22.2 per cent) patients in the no-IBR group received their first chemotherapy cycle later than 6 weeks after surgery (P < 0.001). The respective numbers for later than 8 weeks were 17 (9.1 per cent) and 14 (3.1 per cent) (P = 0.001). Among all 645 patients, postoperative complications were a significant risk factor for a delay in the initiation of chemotherapy. Sixty-seven (39.9 per cent) patients with and 101 (21.2 per cent) patients without complications had a delay in chemotherapy (P < 0.001). The delay in chemotherapy was due to complications in 39 (59.1 per cent) in the IBR group and in 28 (27.5 per cent) in the no-IBR group (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Patients undergoing mastectomy alone were more likely to receive adjuvant chemotherapy within 6 weeks after surgery compared with the IBR patients. IBR significantly increased the risk of postoperative complications in comparison with mastectomy alone. The complications, in turn, were a significant risk factor for delay in adjuvant chemotherapy.