ABSTRACT
I. INTRODUCTION Multimodal interdisciplinary regimens are increasingly being used for the treatment of cancer patients. Chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery are commonly used individually or in combination to allow functional preservation of structures that otherwise would have been surgically sacrificed. Perioperative adjunctive therapy decreases local recurrence by treating regional lymph nodes and/or sites of primary extension in those patients with a high risk for microscopic involvement (1). Unfortunately, pre-and postoperative adjuvant therapies can compromise healing, causing loss of tissue required for functional and aesthetic reconstruction following ablative surgery (2,3). This chapter will outline the fundamentals of wound healing, the effects of radiation-and chemotherapy-induced cellular changes, and how these changes influence tissue transfers for the reconstruction of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis.
