ONCOPLASTIC BREAST SURGERY

As the name implies oncoplastic breast surgery, also referred to as modern breast conservative surgery, is when cancer lumpectomy is combined with the use of plastic surgery techniques to allow breast conservation for larger tumours without aesthetic compromise. Oncoplastic breast surgery has been gradually popularised in the UK and some European countries since the early 2000s. This movement aligned with the recognition that patients do better with lumpectomy than with mastectomy and that psychosocial well-being is an important factor for breast cancer survivors who had increasingly better survival thanks to the advancements in our therapies.

Australian breast surgeons have picked up modern breast conservative techniques at various speeds, more avidly in some states than the others. Unfortunately, Victorian breast surgeons were among the latest to adopt these new skills. Hence after obtaining his fellowship from the College of Surgeons, Dr Tourani did two years of subspeciality training interstate and in the UK specifically aiming to gain these new skills and bring back to Melbourne. Fortunately, we are now in a good position to train our new generation of breast surgeons with the full armamentarium of skills to be able to give their patients the best possible results. Dr Tourani is passionate about modern breast conservative surgery and has dedicated a rather lengthy blog to this topic. It aims to familiarise breast cancer patients to the range of surgeries available so that they can have a more informed conversation with their treating surgeons.