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Breast Cancer - I
Surgery for Cancer Breast:
Cancer Breast is a common type of cancer in women. Treatment of Cancer Breast is perhaps the most controversial. Particularly in recent years the understanding of the disease process itself has changed considerably, resulting in less mutilating surgery. Radiation, chemotherapy and hormone therapy which are needed in most cases are also of better quality. Patient’s participation in the decision process and selecting what methods she prefers is another great change in deciding about the final methods of treatment. Present day patients are more knowledgeable about cancer breast and are thus able to intelligently discuss about it with the medical team.
Breast Sparing Surgery:
Removing the "lump" alone with prescribed amount of normal breast around it and also clear the armpit of all lymph glands (called as axillary dissection), thus sparing the feminine form is being performed in some specialised centres. Such a treatment needs highly advanced facilities and skills and therefore are restricted to highly advanced cancer centres and in patients with very early disease. Of course these women are then subjected to other methods of treatment like radiation, chemotherapy and /or hormones also.
Total Mastectomy and axillary dissection:
In spite of knowledge explosion in the field of breast cancer among doctors and patients, removing the whole breast and clearing the armpit of glands and other tissues is the most common operation for this disease , if relatively early (stage I & II), all over the world. PERHAPS this method gives the best chance of CURE from the disease. But one main drawback of this procedure is the mutilation/deformity it produces.
Can we overcome mutilation of Total Mastectomy ?
The answer is an emphatic YES ! In fact there are several good techniques of breast reconstruction and these can be done at the same sitting of mastectomy or a little later at another sitting. Silastic breast implant is the most commonly used technique, but is a little expensive. An excellent and very inexpensive method, which can be easily done at the time of mastectomy is to use patient’s own excessive tissues available freely in the abdominal wall. This technique is called as TRAM flap recontruction.
We at Dr.U Mohan Rau Memorial Hospital have been performing this operation successfully for over 25 years !
Details of mastectomy and TRAM flap reconstruction will be explained in our next newsletter.
MASTECTOMY AND TRAM FLAP RECONSTRUCTION for early breast cancer is another operation we specialise in and is our strength !
With Best Wishes to Be Healthy,
Yours Sincerely,
Dr. M.Mohan Rao, MBBS, MS, FICS, MCH,
M.D. & Chief Surgeon,
Dr. UMR Memorial Hospital.
962, Poonamallee High Road, Chennai 600084.
Tel. 6424396, 6411621, 6412474.
E-mail: mmr@mohanraohospital.com
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