Immunotherapy and Breast Reconstruction: Opportunities, Challenges, and Future Directions
Immunotherapy is transforming breast cancer management, but it also presents new challenges for surgical and reconstructive practice. This review summarizes current evidence on immune checkpoint inhibitors, perioperative safety, and immune-related adverse events, highlighting their impact on surgical timing, postoperative recovery, and reconstructive outcomes. We also discuss interactions between implants and the tumor immune microenvironment and emphasize the need for individualized perioperative management. Finally, we identify key research gaps, including long-term toxicity, real-world surgical outcomes, and predictive biomarkers to guide reconstructive surgeons in integrating immunotherapy into multidisciplinary care.
Authors
- Weichang Zhang
- Y X Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0980-4024)
- Jianguo Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8030-2900)
- Shengyun Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3657-4236)
- Wenwu Cai
- Yingjie Liu
- Shuang Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-2507-9119)
Institutions
- Central South University (CN)
- Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
- The University of Texas at Arlington (US)
- Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College (CN)
- The First People's Hospital of Changde (CN)
- The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
- Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital (CN)
- Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University (CN)
- Fu Wai Hospital (CN)
- Hangzhou Medical College (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Cancer Medicine
- Published
- 2026-05-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.71794
- Primary Topic
- Breast Implant and Reconstruction
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Special Project for Research and Development in Key areas of Guangdong Province