Safety and Feasibility of Minimally Invasive (Laparoscopic/Robotic-Assisted) Nipple-Sparing Mastectomy Combined with Prosthesis Breast Reconstruction in Breast Cancer: A Single-Center Retrospective Study.

Background: Minimally invasive (robotic or laparoscopic-assisted) nipple-sparing mastectomy combined with prosthesis breast reconstruction (NSM–PBR) is associated with smaller scars and greater patient satisfaction. However, the oncological safety of minimally invasive NSM–PBR remains controversial. Patients and Methods: This was a retrospective study of patients with breast cancer who underwent breast reconstruction between 1 January 2006 and 20 February 2021. Demographic and clinicopathological characteristics, operation information, postoperative complications, and survival outcomes were analyzed. Results: In all, 292 patients underwent minimally invasive NSM–PBR and 205 underwent open NSM–PBR for breast cancer. In the minimally invasive NSM–PBR group, 268 (91.8%) patients underwent laparoscopy and 24 (8.2%) patients underwent robot-assisted NSM–PBR. Mean operation time in the minimally invasive NSM–PBR group was significantly longer than that in the open NSM–PBR group (P = 0.023). Mean intraoperative blood loss was significantly less in the minimally invasive NSM–PBR group (P < 0.05). There was no significant between-group difference in total complications. Similarly, there were no significant between-group differences in overall survival, recurrence-free survival, and local recurrence rate (P = 0.450, P = 0.613, and P = 0.679, respectively). Conclusions: The complication, recurrence, and mortality rates in minimally invasive NSM–PBR group were comparable to those in open NSM–PBR group. Our preliminary results are encouraging and suggest that minimally invasive NSM–PBR affords good cosmetic results and its oncological safety is comparable to that of open surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]