Breast Repair After Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer seen in women. According to statistics, one in every eight women in the world suffers from breast cancer at a certain time in her life. Treatment success in this disease has increased with early diagnosis and life expectancy of patients has been prolonged. Therefore, increasing the quality of life of the patient after cancer treatment has become more and more important.

Losing breasts adversely affects patients both socially and psychologically. This type of organ loss causes deterioration of patient's perception of her body and makes her think that her femininity values are on the decline. This leads to deterioration of the person's relationship with the family and the people around. Breast repair after breast cancer improves the quality of life of the patient and helps her get better spiritually and physically.

Breast repair can be performed in two ways in terms of timing. One of them is simultaneous or immediate repair. In this case, breast reconstruction is performed simultaneously with breast removal surgery. The other application is to repair after a disease-free period. This is called late-period repair.

One method that can be used to regenerate the breast is to repair the breast with the patient's own tissues. The first preferred area for breast repair with the patient's own tissue is the abdominal tissue in the lower navel. This method is advantageous for many women because it also helps to get rid of fat in the lower abdomen. The complication rate is low when the right patient is selected and when performed by experienced surgeons. The aesthetic results are quite good.

Another method that can be used is breast repair with silicone breast prosthesis. However, this method requires at least 2 sessions. Since there is skin insufficiency in the area where the breast is removed, the skin should be enlarged using tissue expanders in the 1^st session. Then, after the breast skin is sufficiently enlarged and waited for a while, this expander is removed, and permanent prostheses are replaced in a second operation. Patients that have small to medium-sized breasts, that are non-irradiated, that are not too fat, that do not require a major surgical intervention, or that are not medically appropriate for a major surgical intervention are suitable candidates for breast repair with silicone prosthesis. However, the size and shape of the breasts directly affect the recommended treatment and outcomes. Breast repair with tissue expander cannot make an exact copy of the removed breast.

Breast repairs are now recognized as a part of breast cancer treatment worldwide. Breast cancer patients should request detailed information on this subject from their doctors.