The role of oncoplastic therapeutic mammoplasty in breast cancer surgery--a review.

[BACKGROUND] Reduction mammoplasty is an established technique for symptom relief in women with breast hypertrophy. Therapeutic mammoplasty and radiotherapy may allow cancers to be surgically treated whilst maintaining oncological safety and improving cosmetic outcome. This article aims to review the evidence upon which therapeutic mammoplasty is based and to outline an approach for surgical planning and selection.

[METHODS] A systematic PubMed and Medline literature search was carried out. All abstracts were studied and papers that dealt primarily with breast conservation using plastic surgery techniques were reviewed.

[RESULTS AND CONCLUSION] Therapeutic mammoplasty is a useful procedure for breast conserving cancer surgery in women with large breasts, conferring a good cosmetic and functional outcome. This article proposes that breast surgeons experienced in oncological surgery can safely resect tumours from all aspects of the breast with a minimal number of variations in standard mammoplasty technique.