Less-invasive mastectomy was found to be safe for more breast cancer patients, Mayo Clinic study finds. In the procedure, known as a nipple-sparing mastectomy, surgeons remove breast tissue, leaving the skin, nipple and areola, and immediately rebuild the breasts.
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‘Recent or current smoking or radiation before less-invasive mastectomy surgery significantly increased the rate of surgical complications; radiation before or after surgery was associated with breast reconstruction failure.’
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Complications within 30 days after surgery declined from 14.8% in 2009 to 6.3% in 2017, despite the fact that the procedure was offered to more women, including those whose cancer was locally advanced or who had surgical complication risk factors such as obesity or prior surgery, the study found. 
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At the one-year mark after surgery, reconstruction was considered a success in roughly 97 percent of cases.
"Offering enhanced aesthetics as a result of these surgeries to women who have had a devastating diagnosis is extremely rewarding," says senior study author Tina Hieken, M.D., a breast surgeon at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. "Today, breast cancer patients who are not offered nipple-sparing procedures should ask their surgeons why. As this study shows, these surgeries are proving safe for a broad patient base."
Source-Eurekalert