Mrs Kantha a 75 year old lady from Delhi presented to us with stage 3 cancer of right side breast. She is a part of a happy family, a caring husband, well settled son and daughter. Her life was happening as she planned until August 2016.

First Opinion:

She had lump in her right breast for 2 months that made her visit a Doctor. Doctors in Delhi, evaluated her and told her that, she has an advanced breast cancer that was confirmed on Biopsy. The suggested treatment was removal of the entire breast along with lymph nodes in armpit. But the patient was determined to save her breast and her life.

At MIOT:

With lots of hope they came to MIOT  in the month of November 2016. On examination she had a 4 cm lump in her right breast and some lymph nodes in armpit. PET scan showed cancer limited only to breast and armpit. She expressed her desire to save her breast and avoid mastectomy(removal of the whole breast).

Over the last two decades, there is enough evidence to suggest that mastectomy and breast conservation surgery almost gives equal results. Though she was 75 year old, she was a right candidate for breast conservation surgery.

BREAST-CONSERVING SURGERY (BCS) is an operation to remove the cancer while leaving as much normal breast as possible. Some surrounding healthy tissue and lymph nodes are usually also removed.

Treatment Done:

She underwent a right side breast conservation surgery which involves removal of breast cancer along with a rim of 1 -2 cm normal tissue in all dimensions. A separate incision made at armpit and all nodes which had cancer was also removed. After three weeks of surgery she was started on chemotherapy and also completed radiation therapy.

Eight cycles of chemotherapy is very vital to eradicate microscopic disease in her body. Radiation therapy was delivered by world`s latest True Beam machine, which delivers precise dose of radiation to the cancer affected area and spares normal tissue, so that it minimises side effects.

Recovery:

After she completed her course of treatments, her recovery was unevenful and faster than expected. On PET scan, there was no evidence of tumour cells. One year down the line, she is fit and fine.

She is so happy that she could preserve the symbol of her feminity, without a risk to her life!!!

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