To compare both short-term and long-term clinical outcome of nipple sparing mastectomy (NSM) and conventional radical mastectomy (CM) in treating patients with early staging breast cancer.

The clinical data of 76 patients with early staging breast cancer from January 2012 to March 2014 were analyzed retrospectively, who were divided into NSM group (n=42) and CM group (n=34) according to different surgical methods. Statistical analysis were performed by using SPSS 20.0 software. Measurement data such as age and tumor size were represented as (±s) and were examined by using independent t test. Postoperative complications and aesthetic evaluation were analyzed by usingχ² test. Kaplan-meier method was used for survival analysis. Log-rank test was used to evaluate the 5-year prognosis. A P value of <0.05 was considered as statistical significant difference.

There were 38 patients in NSM group received one-stage breast reconstruction, and other 4 cases received two-stage breast reconstruction. However, there were only 3 cases received two-stage breast reconstruction. The postoperative ischemic necrosis rate in NSM group was higher than that in CM group (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference of overall incidence of postoperative complications between two groups (P>0.05). The "good" to "very good" rate of breast reconstruction aesthetics in NSM group was 90.5% higher than 79.4% in CM group 3 months after surgery (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in terms of local recurrence rate (7.1% vs. 5.9%), DFS(83.3% vs.82.4%) and OS(90.5% vs.91.2%) between two groups 5 years after surgery (P>0.05).

Compared with CM surgery, NSM is a safe therapeutic treatment for early staging breast cancer, and intraoperative retention of nipple and areola complex would not increase the risk of local recurrence after surgery. The 5-year prognosis of the two groups is similar.