What happens at your appointment:
- get a GP referral
- Call us to make an appointment
- Depending on the urgency, we can try to accommodate you for an early appointment
- if you send us an email, we will try to respond by 48 hours
Breast Oncoplastic Surgery
Surgery is a critical part of the care of our patients with breast carcinoma. Multidisciplinary (incorporating medical and radiation oncology inputs), and personalised management, is key to achieving optimal short, and long-term outcomes.
Anatomy
The breast is composed of glandular and fatty tissue. If breast cancer were to spread, one of the first locations it spreads to is the lymph nodes under your armpit. Therefore, breast cancer surgery often also involves having surgery to remove some lymph nodes.
How is the surgery done?
Removal of your breast cancer can be achieved either by mastectomy (removing the whole breast) or lumpectomy (breast conserving surgery). In women having mastectomy, breast reconstruction is an available option, and can be performed either at the time of mastectomy (immediate reconstruction) or at a future date (delayed reconstruction). Combining lumpectomy with breast reduction surgery is also possible. Surgical options available to you need to be personalised to achieve optimal cancer and aesthetic outcomes.
What are the risks?
As with any operation, there is a small risk of bleeding and infection. Mastectomy and lumpectomy procedures are not usually painful procedures. Breast reconstruction does involve extra surgery and the recovery is therefore correspondingly longer.
What to expect after surgery?
Recovery after breast cancer surgery depends very much on the type of surgery that has been performed. Usually, Dr. Yew will see you 1-2 weeks after surgery when the results from pathology testing of the breast cancer will be explained and further treatment options, if necessary, discussed. If you are unsure when to return for review with Dr. Yew, please call the office to schedule an appointment.
Interesting Read...
New Breast Cancer Treatment - "Intraoperative Radiation Therapy" (IORT)
Dr Yew has trained in this new treatment and will be offering this to his patients at St John of God Subiaco Hospital.
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Long term survival and local control outcomes from single dose targeted intraoperative radiotherapy during lumpectomy (TARGIT-IORT) for early breast cancer: TARGIT-A randomised clinical trial.
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