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Evidence of the Oncologic Safety of Total Skin-Sparing Mastectomy

  • Local-Regional Evaluation and Therapy (KK Hunt, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Breast Cancer Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Total skin-sparing mastectomy or nipple skin-sparing mastectomy (TSSM/NSSM) techniques preserve the entire breast skin envelope and nipple-areolar complex (NAC) skin with resection of the underlying nipple tissue. In this review, we distinguish TSSM/NSSM techniques from other techniques that preserve the nipple appearance and provide clarity for evaluating and comparing these techniques. With longer follow-up and maturity of data sets, the oncologic safety of TSSM is emerging. The risk of breast cancer after prophylactic TSSM and locoregional recurrence after therapeutic TSSM are similar to those seen with other mastectomy techniques, with extremely low rates of recurrence within the NAC. The superior cosmetic outcome of TSSM/NSSM in conjunction with immediate reconstruction, the reduced complications with greater experience with the technique, and the accumulation of evidence on safety provide support for the inclusion of TSSM/NSSM techniques as standard approaches for mastectomy.

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Conflict of Interest

Anne Warren Peled, Frederick Wang, and Laura J. Esserman declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Breast Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Anne Warren Peled & Laura J. Esserman

  2. Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Frederick Wang

Authors
  1. Anne Warren Peled
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  2. Frederick Wang
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  3. Laura J. Esserman
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Correspondence to Laura J. Esserman.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Local-Regional Evaluation and Therapy

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Peled, A.W., Wang, F. & Esserman, L.J. Evidence of the Oncologic Safety of Total Skin-Sparing Mastectomy. Curr Breast Cancer Rep 7, 8–14 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12609-014-0175-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12609-014-0175-7

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