2 weeks Ago By Prerna Mittra
Fortunately for the patient, she was able to detect lumps in her breast during self-examination. It helped her to detect the cancer while there was still time. Breast cancer case: Fighting cancer can be a lonesome and challenging journey.
For a 34-year-old single woman battling breast cancer, it was a scary experience, because breast cancer is considered to be one of the most aggressive ones, whose treatment requires timely diagnosis. The patient underwent a breast reconstruction surgery, and once her adjuvant cancer treatments are completed, her nipple and areola will be recreated using local tissue along with some amount of tattooing. Since she is unmarried, the woman's Anti-M llerian Hormone (AMH) levels were also assessed with the aim to preserve her eggs in case she wants to get pregnant in the future.
According to a statement shared by Wockhardt Hospitals, Mira Road -- where the patient was treated -- the case was handled by Dr Aditi Agrawal, consultant breast cancer surgeon and her team. A laser technician by profession, the patient experienced some symptoms of breast cancer like pain in the breast. She performed self-examination and spotted two lumps in her left breast.
Fortunately for her, she received timely management at Wockhardt Hospitals. "The patient, with no comorbidities, presented with two lumps in left breast. Upon biopsy, it was found to be a case of invasive breast carcinoma.
Since the woman was young and unmarried, and had dense breast, we performed an MRI, which revealed stage 0 cancer involving the entire breast," Dr Agrawal said, adding that their plan was to remove the entire breast, even though the patient insisted on saving her breast. "She is a slim patient with no abdominal fat, so reconstruction [of the breast] was not possible. We had to think outside the box," the doctor said.
She teamed up Dr Leena Jain, consultant plastic, reconstructive microvascular and hand surgeon , and Dr Sushil Nehete, consultant plastic, hand and microsurgeon, and planned to perform 'skin sparing mastectomy' with reconstruction of the breast. "We decided to take a flap from her thigh, which had a reasonable amount of fat. It is called the anterolateral thigh flap, harvested from the anterolateral aspect of the thigh along with its blood supply.
Flap was shaped to form a breast mound...
It was further modified by harvesting skin and subcutaneous tissue along with the entire lateral muscle to provide more bulk required to match the other breast," the doctor explained. var firstScrolled3 = false; window.addEventListener("scroll",(event) => { if(!firstScrolled3) {window.
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Once her adjuvant cancer treatment -- inclusive of chemotherapy -- is completed, her nipple and areola can be reconstructed. "Considering her unmarried status, we performed her AMH status with the idea of preserving her ovum/ovarian tissue for future pregnancy . Women above the age of 20 must perform self-examination on their breast every month to look for any abnormalities.
Regular mammograms after 40 are important," said Dr Agrawal..
