Breast Reconstruction in Women Under 30: A 10-year Experience

The number of women diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age (< 30 years) continues to rise. As young women present for breast cancer management with greater frequency, an accurate characterization of the differences in cancer treatments and reconstruction techniques is imperative to optimize care. Here, we sought to identify the reconstruction trends in this population of women < 30 years at time of breast cancer diagnosis. We retrospectively reviewed the charts of women aged < 30 years who underwent breast reconstruction at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. We extracted data on the patients' diagnosis, adjuvant therapy, reconstructive choice, reason for reconstructive choice, and decision for contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM). Over a 10-year period, 54 patients aged < 30 years underwent 77 breast reconstructions, including 30 microsurgical autologous tissue reconstructions and 34 tissue expander-based reconstructions. Donor site limitations, including insufficient abdominal tissue, restricted the number of patients eligible for abdominal based reconstruction despite the patients' interest in the latter. The rate of CPM was 43%, which was significantly higher than the national average of 8%, further complicating the possibility of total autologous reconstruction. Because of the high rate of bilateral mastectomy and innate donor tissue limitations, young, healthy women who are otherwise ideal candidates for free tissue transfer using the abdominal donor site undergo significantly more tissue expander reconstructions than expected. Implant-based reconstruction or donor sites other than the abdomen must be considered in this unique population.