Why does the cancer sometimes spread to the chest wall after a mastectomy?
When you remove the breast, metastases tend to go to areas where the blood vessels are abnormal. After a mastectomy, scar tissue remains, and the cancer is more likely to go into this scar tissue. Many women who have a recurrence in the chest wall after mastectomy, in short order, develop recurrences or metastases elsewhere. So, it’s a signal that there is high potential for metastatic disease. Recurrence in the chest wall has a much heavier significance in terms of survival. Whereas, the local, in- the-breast recurrence does not jeopardize survival.
