hi, I am currently having chemo for inflammatory stage 3 grade 3 her2+ breast cancer. I will then have a mastectomy and ancillary node clearance. It will be full mastectomy and I am really freaking out about keloid and hypertrophic scarring and the visual impact. I know that this type of scarring is typical on black skin although people keep telling me it will fade to nothing, this is not likely to be the case. Does anyone have any experience with this problem.
Hi ShazPboro,
Welcome to the Macmillan Online Community. I’m Kirstine, one the Cancer Information Nurse Specialists here. I hope you will find this a warm and informative space to seek advice. I can see you have found some good support already in our breast cancer forum.
I am sorry to read about your worries today. It is already a really stressful time for you being diagnosed and needing this treatment for breast cancer and it’s understandable that you will have fears about what may happen as a result of this.
Some people can develop keloid (or hypertrophic) scars after surgery. They are rare but can be more common for people with certain ancestry including South Asian, Chinese, Latinx, Black African and African Caribbean skin. Keloid scars are harmless overgrowths of collagen tissue at the site of an injury such as a surgical scar and some people might find this upsetting and worry about how they look. If you think you might be more prone to these and are worried about it, it’s important that you talk to your surgeon and breast care nurse as soon as you can so they can support you with strategies to reduce the potential for these forming in the months after surgery.
There are no guarantees to prevent these or clear them altogether but here are many options to help. If your surgeon knows, they can employ certain techniques in theatre to reduce tension on tissue structures when operating. It’s likely that when the wound has healed you will be advised to keep it supple with something like petroleum jelly or Bio Oil – your breast care nurse can advise on when is the best time to start this. The American Academy of Dermatology recommend silicone gel dressings be used after the wound has healed – you could ask if this is suitable for you also.
According to the British Association of Dermatologists there are options to manage them if the did begin to appear. This includes but is not limited to, steroid injection into the site, cryotherapy, radiotherapy, compression bandaging and laser therapy.
I hope some of this information is useful. Please do feel free to reach out again if we can help with anything else.
Wishing you the best,
Kirstine – Macmillan
Cancer Information Nurse Specialist
You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or send us an email. Ref KDf/ ER
Hi Kirstine, thank you so much for your reply. This is really useful for me to help discuss with my surgeon. I feel a lot more confident that they can help to at least minimise the visual impact. 
