Life or dignity? —— Modified Radical Mastectomy

Breast is the symbol of female status. A pair of complete breasts is the basic dignity, more importantly, the beauty representative of all females. Unfortunately, breast cancer brings endless painfulness to females. To prolong their lives, many breast cancer patients, especially those in early stage, have to remove their breasts.

1、Modified Radical Mastectomy

Surgery used to be the first choice for early stage breast cancer. Especially in 1960s when modified radical mastectomy newly emerged, it thoroughly cleared up the tumor lesion, only retaining the pectoralis major and pectoralis minor. Thus, it removed cancer without depriving the function of upper limbs, and greatly improved the treatment effect and patients’life quality.

2、A Complete treatment plan

Removing breast can save patient’s life. But for some patients, it means forever loss of their dignity as a woman. According to a survey, after surgery, many patients apparently lose confidence. They are afraid to go swimming, do sports, have a spa and even ashame to show their body to their partners. A quarter of these patients suffer from depression and do not want to stay with other people or take part in social activities. Therefore, a complete treatment plan is not just to treat cancer, but also help rebuild patient’s physical and mental condition

Preserve both health and beauty——Modified Radical Mastectomy followed by breast reconstruction

step1：Breast reconstruction, no more fear of removing the breast

The use of breast reconstruction changed the result of losing breast after surgery and enabled patients to have both health and beauty at the same time.

Based on the principle of “safety first, beauty second”, breast reconstruction after modified radial mastectomy is to rebuild the breast to give it a shape as natural as possible in the ways of prosthesis (an artificial breast) implantation or autologous tissue transplantation (taking tissues from other parts of patient’s body and transplant them to the breast area) according to patient’s personal condition after clearing up the cancer lesion.

For early stage breast cancer, breast reconstruction can be performed immediately after modified radical mastectomy. This is called “modified radical mastectomy with immediate reconstruction”. Reconstruction also can be practiced within weeks, months or years after the surgery, and that is called “postponed or secondary reconstruction”.

step2:Modified radical mastectomy with immediate reconstruction is more popular

How to decide the time of breast reconstruction? Latest clinical experiments have found that modified radical mastectomy with immediate reconstruction is more popular among patients. That is because it clears up the cancer and rebuild the breast at the same time, avoiding a second surgical trauma and reducing burden physically, mentally and economically. In addition, the time of rehabilitation is shorten, so that the patient can come back to work and enjoy normal life faster. Thus, it is really helpful for patients to regain confidence and dignity.

Learn more about Immediate Reconstruction VS Postponed Reconstruction

Are you choosing a right breast reconstruction method?

According to the difference of filler used in procedure, breast reconstruction can be divided into prosthesis reconstruction, autologous tissue reconstruction and combination of these two ways.

Prosthesis implantation reconstruction:

prosthesis is the most common padding used in breast reconstruction. It causes the least damage to the organism and the rehabilitation is much faster than that of autologous tissue reconstruction. Moreover, the security, feeling and shape of prosthesis have been greatly improved with today’s technology, thus, the effect of reconstruction usually is very good.

Autologous tissue transplantation reconstruction:

this method is to transplant tissues of other parts of patient’s body, such as the back, abdomen, buttock, etc. to the breast area, so as to gain a full shape and make up the removed breast skin.

Combination of prosthesis implantation and autologous tissue transplantation: this method combines above two methods together.

Procedure of modified radical mastectomy with immediate reconstruction

Prof. Wang Xin of Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou pointed out that both modified radical mastectomy and breast reconstruction are personalized. To secure the treatment progress and surgery effect, working out a standardized and proper treatment procedure is very important.

Step 1: diagnosis. Determine whether the patient is suitable for modified radical mastectomy and breast reconstruction; learn about whether the patient is willing to undergo breast reconstruction.

Step 2: design the surgical incision. Completely removing the cancer is the premise when designing the incision. If transplantation of latissimus muscle flap is required, incision should be made on both the breast gland and armpit.

Step 3: determine surgery method. The surgery should be designed according to the size of patient’s breast and shape of the remaining breast as well as the incision position and postoperative treatment, etc.

Step 4: process of surgery. Firstly, remove the cancer or clear up nearby lymph nodes, then perform breast reconstruction. Preserve or remove the nipple and areola according to the condition of the cancer.

Step 5: postoperative nursing. Professional medical nursing team takes charge of patient’s physical and mental nursing care.

Do you need a breast reconstruction?

If patients have below conditions, breast reconstruction would be the best choice:

Diagnosed with breast cancer (mainly in stage 1 or stage 2), and decide to undergo mastectomy.

Detected with breast cancer gene mutations and plan to do mastectomy for prevention

Diagnosed with breast cancer and plan to do breast-conserving surgery, such as partial mastectomy or lumpectomy.

Breast reconstruction is forbidden to:

Patient with mental defects or disorder(you should maintain a positive attitude before determining to undergo reconstruction)

Cancer patients with distant metastasis(we suggest these patients take comprehensive treatment to control the cancer within stage 3)

Patient with severe heart and lung insufficiency, heart disease, diabetes, etc.

Rich experience is the guarantee of surgery effect ----- choose Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou

Because modified radical mastectomy with breast reconstruction involves multidisciplinary sciences including cancer treatment and plastic surgery, the operation is complicated. In order to get the best cancer treatment and breast reconstruction effect, choosing a right medical institution is the most important thing for breast cancer patients.

Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou has helped numberless breast cancer patients regain health and beauty with modified radical mastectomy and breast reconstruction. It wins patients’ trust and brings them here with below eight factors. We ensure the truth of these factors and will constantly work hard to provide patients with the best treatment.

1. Medical team consists of medical and surgical oncologists to work out the most suitable treatment plan

2. Breast cancer surgeons with rich practical experience

3. Professional qualified plastic surgeons

4. Professional anesthetists secure the safety

5. Thorough disinfection system

6. Advanced medical equipments to detect cancer and monitor postoperative condition

7. Individualized breast reconstruction plan

8. Professional and careful cancer treatment with dual nursing care after breast reconstruction