Ipsilateral Breast Tumor Recurrence after Previous Lymph Node Transfer for Upper Limb Lymphedema - Abstract
Background: Lymphedema is a relatively common secondary effect from breast cancer treatment and could affect the quality of life in breast cancer patients. The management of lymphedema has evolved over the years. Although different surgical techniques are reported, as lymph node transfer from the inguinal area to the axilla and microsurgery, results are variable and controversial. Long term outcomes and complications from the techniques are still awaiting.
Case presentation: We report the case of a patient with a triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) treated with left lumpectomy and axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) who had an ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR) ten years after diagnosis. In between, patient developed a lymphedema treated surgically with microvascular anastomosis and a lymph node transfer from the inguinal area.
Conclusions: Due to the multimodal treatment of breast cancer, patients have better survival and in the future it will become more common to have patients with nodes transferred to the axilla for the surgical management of lymphedema who develop ipsilateral tumor recurrences. Management of the axilla of these patients should be individualized balancing the increased risk of lymphedema and the surgical treatment of the ipsilateral recurrence.