Hi,
This is my first post and first time reaching out for advice from anyone other than the doctors/nurses etc.
I was diagnosed with Triple-Positive Invasive Breast Cancer Jan 2021 aged 29. I had chemo, lumpectomy and radiotherapy, and I am now on the Herceptin injections and Tamoxifen.
I thought all was well and this cancer business was starting to be something I could put behind me; that is until I had my first mammogram in May followed by biopsies that confirmed the cancer was back for round 2 as DCIS in the same breast.
I knew that it’d be a mastectomy this time and had prepared for that with reconstruction, however what I was not prepared for was my surgeon telling me that generally you can’t have implants following radiotherapy because of issues it can cause, including encapsulation, so it should be autologous reconstruction.
For many reasons I want to try and avoid the autologous route and consider an implant as a possibility, so my question is this…
Has anyone on here got experience of having implants fitted into a breast that has already received radiotherapy?
I want to know all the good, the bad and the ugly stories to help me make an informed decision. I’ve tried to do some reading and look at some research studies into this but available information is scarce, any advice or guidance is much appreciated.
Thanks and sending you all love and luck for your own journeys
X
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I have implants as of last year, and have had radiotherapy before - but, possibly the 30-year gap between the two makes the difference? No issues for me. Hopefully someone with more recent experience can be more helpful!
I have been told the same thing about implants. I will say that I know someone who tried it after radiation and it wasn’t successful. Ended up having the implant taken out. Not sure if she tried it again or not. Yet here is a quote I found from MD Anderson which is a top hospital here in the US. “Although women should be aware of these increased risks, implant-based breast reconstruction after radiation therapy is still successful in most cases, according to the paper by ASPS Member Surgeon Dr. Steven J. Kronowitz of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston.” It also went on to list the below statistics.
"In one of the largest studies performed to date, the risk of major complications was about 45 percent for women receiving implants with radiation therapy, compared to 24 percent in patients not exposed to radiation. Complications were more common when radiation was given before versus after implant-based reconstruction: 64 versus 58 percent.
The highest-quality study found that, among women undergoing implant reconstruction, patient satisfaction scores were lower for those receiving radiation therapy. Another study reported that women receiving implants after radiation therapy were more likely to need major corrective surgery."
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I am aware this topic is old, but I bet many women are going through the same, so I am bumping this up as I didn’t find a newer version of this.
I would love to hear how things are going for Kay0987 and if she still has the implants.
I chose implant-based reconstruction after I was diagnosed based on the fact that we thougth I was Stage I and would not need radiation therapy. Turned out, after mastectomy, pathology came back and I was upstaged to Stage III (I have lobular carcinoma, which tends to hide from imaging until really large). At that time, I already had tissue expanders on. I had tissue necrosis post mastectomy, but eventually healed without further surgeries. Got radiation therapy 4 months post mastectomy, once necrosis was healed. Nine months post radiation, I had the expander-implant exchange.
It’s been one month post implant placement and the side without radiation looks fine. Wound healed within a week and looks smooth (all things considered). Breast actually has a nice shape. The irradiated side, though… is contracted, sits higher than the good side, the shape is a bit weird. The worse part is that the wound is taking a while to actually heal. A month and I still don’t have a proper scar. The skin is thin and seems like the surgeon had to overlap to close and it just looks “not open, but not closed either”, like a “lip” instead of a scar. The surgeon removed the stitches and they put some glued bandage to seal the wound with follow up in 3 weeks. I think that he would not have done that if the wound was just open, so I guess there is some closure. I have no idea if my irradiated side will close properly.
Also, I still have tenderness all around the irradiated area (skin and muscle) that feels like needles to the touch. The only sensation I have left post mastectomy. Oh, also, volume-wise, they look similar with clothes on. Is the naked boob that looks so off.
Is there anyone here with an implant based reconstruction post radiation that has a success story to give some hope?
Thanks and all the best to all of you.
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I know someone who was successful after radiation. She had an immediate reconstruction with her single mastectomy and then went through chemo and radiation. She has expressed no regrets and we are pretty close so I think she would if she had issues. The other person I mentioned above did try again and as far as I know it’s been successful.
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