Quadrantectomy with oxidized regenerated cellulose (“QUORC”): an innovative oncoplastic technique in breast conserving surgery

Abstract

Oncoplastic surgery of the breast has generated great excitement over the past years and has become an integrated component of the surgical treatment of breast cancer.

Oncoplastic procedures (OPP) associate the best surgical oncologic principles to achieve wide tumor-free margins with the best principles of plastic surgery to optimize cosmetic outcomes. Thanks to oncoplastic techniques, the role of breast conserving surgery (BCS) has been extended to include a group of patients who would otherwise require mastectomy to achieve adeguate tumor clearance.

However, even with the use of OPP, cosmetic outcomes may result unsatisfying when a large volume of parenchyma has to be removed, particularly in small-medium size breasts. Recently, it has been proposed the use of ORC (Oxidized Regenerated Cellulose) as a reconstructive biomaterial to optimize the aesthetic results after OPP.

The aim of this article is to describe the standard pattern of an innovative surgical oncoplastic technique with ORC, that we have called “QUORC” (QUadrantectomy with Oxidized Regenerated Cellulose), to improve cosmetic results and minimize the possible postoperative complications.