The Effects of Radiation in Reconstructed Breasts

Abramson Cancer Center at Penn Medicine12 enrolled

Overview

The primary objective of this study is to use LR imaging to evaluate the effects of adjuvant radiation therapy on reconstructed breasts.

Immediate breast reconstruction following mastectomy has become an increasingly popular and accepted treatment option among breast cancer patients. This change in practice has resulted in a significant number of patients who undergo radiation therapy after breast reconstruction. Following irradiation, the reconstructed breast often experiences fibrotic contracture, volume loss, altered pigmentation, or some combination thereof, producing an asymmetric and aesthetically compromised result. The effects of radiation on reconstructed breasts as well as the implications that such changes have for timing of reconstructive surgery, post-operative management and surveillance imaging are topics of growing importance in plastic surgery, radiology and surgical oncology.

Study Type

OBSERVATIONAL

Enrollment

Conditions

Breast Cancer

Interventions

contract-enhanced MRIPROCEDURE

Patients will have contrast-enhanced MRI of the breasts.

Unilateral Adjuvant Radiation TherapyRADIATION

The study group will consist breasts receiving post-operative radiation, and the control group will consist of the patient's breasts on the non-radiated side. In this way, patients will act as their own control.

Eligibility

Sex: FEMALEMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 90 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Female patients between 18 and 90 years of age. * Patients with a diagnosis of unilateral breast cancer who elect to undergo bilateral mastectomy with immediate free flap reconstruction. * Patients must also have a locally advanced tumor that requires adjuvant radiation therapy following reconstruction. Exclusion Criteria: * Women who do not undergo immediate, bilateral breast reconstruction using a free flap. * Women who do not require unilateral, adjuvant radiation therapy * Women who are pregnant * Women who have altered renal function, defined as a personal history of diabetic, hypertensive or autoimmune nephropathy and/or on routine preoperative testing are found to have a serum creatinine greater than or equal to 1.3

Locations (1)

Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Reconstructed Breast Volume

This will be compared at 2 points: before radiation and 1 year after radiation is completed between the 2 breasts.