Dr Selvi Radhakrishna is the oncoplastic breast surgeon at Chennai Breast Centre. She advocates minimally invasive procedures such as breast-preserving lumpectomies and sentinel lymph node biopsies for breast cancer. These procedures ensure a quick return to normal activity with a shorter hospital stay. The procedures are carried out in the city’s state-of-the-art hospitals and follow up care is seamlessly organized.

This procedure involves removal of a breast tumour along with some surrounding breast tissue ensuring clear-cut margins. A lumpectomy is usually followed up by radiotherapy treatment for the remaining breast tissue. This is known as breast-conserving therapy. It removes the least amount of tissue but leaves a scar which is carefully positioned to give the best cosmetic results.

This operation involves removing the whole breast. This may become necessary if the breast lump is large in proportion to the rest of the breast tissue or if there are several areas of cancer cells in different parts of the breast. . Options of reconstruction is offered and discussed with the patient either as primary or delayed reconstruction. Following mastectomy women are given the options of using various prosthesis to restore body image.

Over the choice of treatment, whether lumpectomy or mastectomy, research has shown that in early breast cancer, both are equally effective in outcome

As a part of any operation for breast cancer, the axillary lymph glands are checked to see if breast cancer cells have spread into the lymph glands from the breast tumour. This helps to determine the stage and plan of treatment.

Sentinel lymph node biopsy is a way of checking just one or two lymph glands to see if they contain cancer. If sentinel nodes do not contain cancer cells, no further surgery is required. If nodes contain cancer cells, then we proceed to remove all the glands in the axilla. This procedure avoids the morbidity that may follow axillary clearance.

When a larger amount of breast tissue needs to be removed, the defect is filled in by bringing in muscle tissue from the back or by breast reshaping. This allows us to preserve the breast or, after a mastectomy, a new breast mound may be created using the back fat and muscle or the tummy fat. A plastic surgeon’s help is usually taken to do reconstruction.

The contemporary management of breast cancer is a complex endeavor that requires a truly collaborative team approach, characterized by ongoing communication and active information-sharing among the multiple disciplines involved.

Patients attending comprehensive Chennai breast center receive care with input from a broad-based multidisciplinary team that most often includes surgeons, radiologists, pathologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, plastic/reconstructive surgeons and nurses. The weekly tumour board meeting brings together team members on a regular basis to discuss individual patient cases and develop comprehensive treatment plans.

Decisions and treatment with chemotherapy , radiotherapy , hormone therapy , and newer treatments with monoclonal antibodies and tyrosine kinase inhibitors are discussed extensively with patients with risks and benefits and patients are empowered to participate in decisions regarding their treatment.

While breast feeding some mothers may experience problems such as mastitis and breast abscess formation. Appropriate intervention with antibiotics and ultrasound guided abscess aspiration avoids general anaesthesia and surgery.

Benign , non cancerous breast conditions are very common and we are equipped to assess , reassure and treat most of the non cancerous conditions.

Breast pain is a very common symptom in women. This is usually cyclical and hormonal in nature.

Nipple discharge is a common condition that can occur in women as apart of physiological changes. However if the discharge is coming from a single opening and if it is watery and blood stained it should be investigated.

Fibroadenomata are very common breast lumps in young women. Most of them do not need to be removed . However , it is important to rule out a malignancy before we can reassure it as fibroadenoma .

Cysts are very common in the peri menopausal age group . Again this is usually not cancerous or turn cancerous but complex or complicated cysts will require assessment and follow up.