Autotransplantation of the nipple-areolar complex in patients with breast cancer

Grounding: Breast cancer (BC) ranks first in the structure of oncological diseases in women. Their share among the working age is 60%. Fifteen years ago, the main surgical method of treating BC was mastectomy. This operation led to the disability of a woman, affecting the decrease in her social adaptation, and caused colossal psychological damage.Purpose: to substantiate, on the basis of clinical observations, the indications for the reconstruction of the nipple-areolar complex (NAC) by the method of free autotransplantation in patients with breast cancer, to evaluate the safety of this technique. To compare the aesthetic results of autotransplantation of the NAC with delayed reconstruction of the NAC.Materials and methods: Clinical examples of 3 patients who underwent surgical treatment for BC in 2021-2022 are given. All underwent simultaneous reconstruction of the mammary gland with replantation of the NAC. Preoperative measurements included the distance from the sternal notch to the nipple (in cm), the distance from the nipple to the inframammary sulcus (in cm), the width of the base of the mammary gland (in cm), and the diameter of the NAC (in mm). The degree of ptosis was classified according to the classification systems of Regnault and Brink.Results: Three clinical cases.Conclusion: The technique of NAC autotransplantation in patients with breast cancer necessarily requires an intraoperative urgent histological examination of the submammary area and its subsequent planned histological examination. One-stage NAC autotransplantation is a safe and reliable method for patients for whom mastectomy with NAC preservation is contraindicated and is indicated in cases where the presence of tumor cells is excluded after an urgent histological examination of the submammary area.