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Effect of Radiation and Its Timing on Breast Reconstruction in Chinese Patients

Conditions
Breast Cancer
Interventions
Procedure: Immediate Breast reconstruction
Procedure: Delayed Breast Reconstruction
Radiation: Radiation
Registration Number
NCT03743324
Lead Sponsor
Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital
Brief Summary

The purpose of the study is to investigate the impacts of radiation and the timing of radiation on autologous and prosthetic-based breast reconstruction in Chinese post-mastectomy breast cancer patients. The study aims to optimize the timing for autologous/prosthetic breast reconstruction which delivers the best aesthetic results while maintains low complication rate and best integrates into the comprehensive breast cancer treatment. The study is open to all female breast cancer patients undergoing breast reconstruction in the department of breast reconstruction in Tianjin medical university cancer institute and hospital.

Detailed Description

In breast cancer patients, post-operative radiation therapy is an important component in breast cancer management. However, in the context of breast reconstruction, radiation can have adverse effect as it increases the rate of fat necrosis and leads to fibrosis/ capsular contracture in the reconstructed breast mounds. It is therefore necessary to investigate the best timing for breast reconstruction, especially in those patients which post-operative radiation is required, which does not interfere with overall breast cancer treatment while produces the best surgical, aesthetic and psychological outcome. Most studies in this field are retrospective, and studies on Chinese cohort are also rare. This multi-center prospectively designed clinical trial will include several medical centers across China. The investigators will allocate the patients into three arms based on the status and sequence of radiation and breast reconstruction, and will further stratify the groups based on the different approaches of reconstruction (autologous/ prosthetic based). Both objective and subjective (patient oriented) methods will be employed to make evaluations involving surgical, aesthetic, and psychological outcomes.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
UNKNOWN
Sex
Female
Target Recruitment
1344
Inclusion Criteria
  • Diagnosed with breast cancer
  • Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) larger than 70
  • Underwent autologous or prosthetic based breast reconstruction
  • No severe deficiency in hematological, cardiovascular system, no immune-deficiency, no severe abnormal liver or kidney function.
Exclusion Criteria
  • Metastatic breast cancer
  • Local recurrence after mastectomy
  • Prior radiation history to chest wall due to other tumors
  • Radiation performed more than 6 months after mastectomy
  • Interruption of radiation more than 2 weeks
  • Gravida or during lactation
  • Concurrently undergoing psychotic disorders

Study & Design

Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Study Design
Not specified
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
BR groupDelayed Breast ReconstructionBreast reconstruction without radiation therapy
BR groupImmediate Breast reconstructionBreast reconstruction without radiation therapy
Immediate BR +post-op radiationImmediate Breast reconstructionImmediate breast reconstruction followed by surgical site radiation therapy
Immediate BR +post-op radiationRadiationImmediate breast reconstruction followed by surgical site radiation therapy
Radiation +delayed BRRadiationprevious post-mastectomy radiation followed by delayed breast reconstruction
Radiation +delayed BRDelayed Breast Reconstructionprevious post-mastectomy radiation followed by delayed breast reconstruction
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
occurrence of short term complicationsthe short term complications will be inspected up to 3 months post-op;

impaired arterial or venous flap perfusion by increased (\>3 seconds) or reduced (\<2 seconds) capillary refill time; infection of the reconstructed breast with evidences from microbiological cultures; partial or entire flap necrosis with evident demarcation by clinical observation

occurrence of secondary surgeryup to 24 months post-op

unplanned surgery due to short-term and/or long-term complications post-op, the types of secondary surgery include but not limited to exploratory surgery, flap salvages, removal or fat necrosis, debridement, prosthetic explantation.

occurrence and change of long term complicationsthe long term complications will be assessed at 6 months post-op; repeated assessments will be made at 12 and 24 months to record changes

fat necrosis proven by breast ultrasound/ breast MRI/ pathology; flap contracture that causes change in shape and/or volume in the reconstructed breast mound observed by naked-eye inspection or breast imaging; capsular contracture that causes hardness/pains or changes of the reconstructed breast mound observed by surgeon's inspection or breast imaging.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
baseline and change of subjective evaluationthe baseline evaluation will be made at 6 months post-op; repeated evaluations will be made at 12 and 24 months to record changes

patient oriented aesthetic, psychological and overall outcome evaluations are made with BREAST-Q (short for breast-questionnaire) post reconstruction module, the the selected questionnaire includes a set of questions regarding : category 1-patients' satisfaction with breasts; category 2-patients' satisfaction with outcome and category 3-patients' psychological well-being. In each category, the total score is generated by Q-score (short for questionnaire-score)software and the total score ranges from 0-100. The higher the score the better the satisfaction.

occurrence of revision surgery6 to 24 months post-op

any surgery performed to the reconstructed or contralateral breast to optimize symmetry

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