Collaborative Projects

'Long-term safety of nipple sparing mastectomy in gene positive women' is a collaborative study led by the Jewish General Hospital, with SPHERE participating as a sub-site. It focuses on women who undergo genetic testing, discover they carry a genetic variant linked to breast cancer, and choose to have a risk-reducing mastectomy before developing the disease. These women can undergo one of three types of mastectomy: total mastectomy, skin-sparing mastectomy, or nipple-sparing mastectomy (NSM). While NSM typically provides better cosmetic outcomes for immediate reconstruction, concerns exist about its effectiveness in risk reduction due to the potential for residual breast tissue. This study conducts a retrospective chart review to analyze breast cancer incidence in women who have undergone risk-reducing mastectomy after being identified as carriers of BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2, TP53, CDH1, or PTEN.