Nipple-areolar preservation during breast-conserving therapy for subareolar breast carcinomas

P. S. Dale and A. E. Giuliano
John Wayne Cancer Institute at Saint John's Hospital and Health Center, Santa Monica, Calif. USA.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if women with subareolar breast carcinoma can be successfully treated by breast-conserving therapy consisting of segmental mastectomy that preserves the nipple-areolar complex, axillary lymph node dissection, and postoperative irradiation. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: Tertiary care cancer center. PATIENTS: Twenty-five patients; median age, 56 years; median tumor diameter, 1.4 cm; and median follow-up, 48 months. INTERVENTION: Breast-conserving therapy for subareolar primary breast carcinoma. RESULTS: Two patients had positive surgical margins of resection, and another patient underwent simple mastectomy after developing a local recurrence. Nipple-areolar distortion was the most common cosmetic deformity after breast-conserving therapy, but overall cosmesis was good. At the most recent follow-up, all patients were free of disease. CONCLUSION: Patients who have small subareolar primary breast carcinomas without evidence of nipple involvement are candidates for breast-conserving therapy with nipple-areolar preservation.