Esthetic result of rhomboid flap repair after breast-conserving surgery for lower quadrant breast cancer lesion with skin invasion: Report of two cases

• Published in: Surgery today (Tokyo, Japan) Japan), 2011-06, Vol.41 (6), p.832-836
• Main Authors: Tanaka, Satoru, Nohara, Takehiro, Nakatani, Shuichi, Iwamoto, Mitsuhiko, Sumiyoshi, Kazuhiro, Kimura, Kosei, Takahashi, Yuko, Sato, Nayuko, Tanigawa, Nobuhiko
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use; Breast - pathology; Breast Neoplasms - drug therapy; Breast Neoplasms - surgery; Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast - drug therapy; Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast - surgery; Case Report; Female; Humans; Lymphatic Metastasis; Mastectomy, Segmental - methods; Mastectomy, Simple; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Neoadjuvant Therapy; Neoplasm Invasiveness; Skin - pathology; Surgery; Surgical Flaps; Surgical Oncology
• ISSN: 0941-1291; 1436-2813
• DOI: 10.1007/s00595-010-4355-4

Breast-conserving surgery (BCS) has been increasingly performed as a standard operative strategy for patients with breast cancer. The primary purpose of BCS is to acquire both local control and good cosmetic results. An insignificant difference in cancer treatment results has been shown between BCS and total mastectomy. However, achieving sufficiently cosmetic results can be difficult, particularly in patients with tumors that are large or localized to the lower quadrant. To avoid breast deformities and asymmetries after BCS, immediate reconstruction using autologous tissue has been accepted as the standard option. Rhomboid skin and adipose flap repair is a simple, less invasive procedure than the myocutaneous flap, which has primarily been performed in patients with upper quadrant lesions. We herein report the cases of two patients with lower quadrant breast cancer with skin invasion, who underwent BCS with immediate breast repair using a rhomboid flap. This procedure is therefore worth considering as one of the first options for immediate repair after BCS.