Safety and Effectiveness of Areola-sparing Mastectomy for Breast Cancer With Intraductal Lesions.

Background/aim: Areola-sparing mastectomy (ASM), a conservative mastectomy with nipple hollowing, can be applied to intraductal breast cancer with a tumour-nipple-areola complex (NAC) distance of ≤2 cm. Here, we evaluated the safety and effectiveness of ASM.

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the surgical outcomes of 61 patients (64 breasts) who underwent ASM between 2016 and 2020.

Results: Of the 64 breasts, 33 (51.6%) underwent ASM because the tumour-NAC distance on preoperative magnetic resonance imaging was ≤2 cm. Two patients had positive excisional margins but these were at the posterior areola surface therefore additional resection was possible. Over a median postoperative observation period of 16 months (range=3-52 months), one patient developed chest wall recurrence that was resected and did not recur again.

Conclusion: For breast cancer with an extensive intraductal component, ASM is a good alternative to nipple-sparing mastectomy because it allows safe resection while maintaining aesthetics.