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. 2023 Mar;30(2):302-308.
doi: 10.1007/s12282-022-01421-6. Epub 2022 Dec 17.

Physicians' perception about the impact of breast reconstruction on patient prognosis: a survey in Japan

Rena Yamakado  1 , Makoto Ishitobi  2 , Naoto Kondo  3 , Chikako Yamauchi  4 , Shinsuke Sasada  5 , Hiroko Nogi  6 , Miho Saiga  7 , Akiko Ogiya  8 , Kazutaka Narui  9 , Hirohito Seki  10 , Naomi Nagura  11 , Ayaka Shimo  12   13 , Teruhisa Sakurai  14 , Naoki Niikura  15 , Hiroki Mori  16 , Tadahiko Shien  17 ; Collaborative Study Group of Scientific Research of the Japanese Breast Cancer Society
Affiliations

Physicians' perception about the impact of breast reconstruction on patient prognosis: a survey in Japan

Rena Yamakado et al. Breast Cancer. 2023 Mar.

Abstract

Background: One barrier to the widespread use of breast reconstruction (BR) is physicians' perception that BR adversely affects breast cancer prognosis. However, there is limited information regarding physicians' understanding of the impact of BR on patient prognosis and which physicians have misunderstandings about BR.

Methods: We conducted an e-mail survey regarding the impact of BR on the prognosis of patients with breast cancer among members of the Japanese Breast Cancer Society.

Results: Of 369 respondents, 99 (27%) said that they believe BR affects patient prognosis. Female respondents and those who treat fewer new breast cancer patients per year were more likely to state that they believe BR affects patient prognosis (P = 0.006 and 0.007). Respondents who believed that BR affects patient prognosis underestimated 5-year overall survival rates in patients who receive BR and subsequently have local or regional recurrence in different sites.

Conclusion: Our survey demonstrated that a quarter of respondents believe that BR affects patient prognosis and underestimate survival rates in patients who receive BR and have subsequent local or regional recurrence. Because of the lack of evidence regarding the impact of BR on patient prognosis, educating physicians by providing accurate knowledge regarding BR and patient prognosis is highly recommended.

Keywords: Breast cancer; Breast reconstruction; Prognosis; Questionnaire; Recurrence.

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Conflict of interest statement

Tadahiko Shien has received honoraria from Allergan. The other authors made no disclosures.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Responses to the question, "Generally, do you believe that breast reconstruction at the time of the initial surgery affects patient prognosis?"
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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