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Trends in Biologic Therapy Use in Patients Undergoing Autologous Breast Reconstruction
Viren Patel, Joseph Quick, Isabel Ho, Graham Schwarz
Cleveland Clinic
2025-01-08
Presenter: Viren Patel
Affidavit:
I certify that the material proposed for presentation in this abstract has not been published in any scientific journal or previously presented at a major meeting. The program director is responsible for making a statement within the confines of the box below specific to how much of the work on this project represents the original work of the resident. All authors/submitters of each abstract should discuss this with their respective program director for accurate submission of information as well as the program director's approval for inclusion of his/her electronic signature.
Director Name: Raymond Isakov
Author Category: Resident Plastic Surgery
Presentation Category: Clinical
Abstract Category: Breast (Aesthetic and Recon.)
Background:
There has been a marked expansion in the use of biologic therapies to treat a number of ailments. However, it is currently unclear how boom in use of biologic medications has translated to patients undergoing autologous breast reconstruction (ABR).
Methods:
A retrospective review was conducted on consecutive patients who underwent ABR between 2019 and 2022. To understand trends in biologic therapy use, patients were split into three time periods (2019, 2020, 2021) and compared.
Results:
A total of 310 patients were included in the analysis, with approximately 100 patients in each time period. There was an increase in the number of patients on pre-operative biologic therapy, with zero, three and eight patients on biologic therapy, in each consecutive time period. This reflected an increase from 0% to 8.1 % of patients. The majority of patients were on biologic therapy for neo-adjuvant immunotherapy (70%), with cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6, comprising most of these cases. There was no significant difference in complications between patients on pre-operative biologic therapy and those who were not. (0 vs 14%, p=0.12)
Conclusion:
Even in this historical cohort, there is a notable increase in the prevalence of biologic use in patients undergoing ABR. While there is not an increase in complicated detected, this study was not adequately powered to detect the impact of biologic medications on surgical outcomes. As patients are increasingly treated with these medications, plastic surgeons must remain vigilant to ensure there are not deleterious effects on ABR.
