RADIATION DESTROYED BREAST

My neice had a breast tumor that was removed by lumpectomy. Although the doctor felt all the cancer was removed, it was suggested she undergo radiation therapy. Several months after the therapy was finished, she noticed her breast becoming hot, itchy and it began to shrink. It finally shrunk away to more or less a large scab that was still hot, itchy and painful. She has had to have  breast reconstruction to replace the destroyed breast, this required skin grafts to replace all the burnt skin that was destroyed by the radiation therapy. The surgeon opted to use her nipple because it did not appear as damaged as the other skin. The nippel took, but then it lost it's color and failed to erect. Several attempts at the surgeons office to tatoo the color back failed.  The surgeron said it was probably due to late effects of the radiation. He says he doesn't want to attempt anymore surgery on the breast because he feels it would be too risky on the radiated skin {she had a bad post op infection in the breast}. Do you think anything more can be done for her? What could have caused this reaction to the radiation therapy? I, too, had breast cancer,lumpectomy and radiation years ago with none of these problems. I had recommended this route to her because it worked for me. Now I  feel responsible.Had she gone the route of mastectomy and chemo this would not have happened.But we thought this was best to preserve her breast. Now we are told it just one of those things that can happen.

[Cleveland Clinic]

Dear lightbug, This sounds like just an unfortunate happening with a combination of circumstances, radiation, infection etc.  A plastic surgeon would need to make a determination whether or not further surgery would be attempted to this breast.  They would need to see her and make a recommendation based on evaluation including physical examination.

Also with the above mentioned 2 cases of breast cancer in the family, another item you may want to consider is a consultation with a genetics counselor experienced in hereditary breast cancers.   These professionals usually can be found in large academic centers.