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Oncoplastic Breast Surgery: Oh, How Breast Cancer Treatment has Changed

Silver Cross offers free lecture on revolutionary Oncoplastic surgery and current developments in surgery for breast cancer

Silver Cross Hospital is now performing another revolutionary procedure - oncoplastic breast surgery, which combines the latest plastic surgery techniques with breast surgical oncology.

Increased understanding of breast cancer has led to a period of rapid advancement in treatment options, and surgical options are being broadened, refined and improved.

A sponsored article by Silver Cross Hospital.

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Dr. Patricia Clark, general surgeon, will present a free program on Oncoplastic Surgery & Update of Current Developments in Surgery for Breast Cancer on Monday, May 13 at 6:30 p.m. at Silver Cross Hospital, Pavilion A, Conference Center, 1890 Silver Cross Blvd., New Lenox. The purpose of this program is to provide support and information on new technology and treatments for women who have breast cancer. 

Oncoplastic surgery combines plastic surgery techniques with breast cancer surgery to minimize deformity and to naturally reconstruct lumpectomy defects with remaining breast tissue. Greater understanding of the behavior of breast cancers and their genetic risk of recurrence has led to more precise, individualized treatment, and can result in less invasive surgeries.

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Dr. Clark will discuss oncoplastic techniques currently being performed at Silver Cross Hospital, changes in screening recommendations, and the recent changes in surgery of axillary lymph nodes. To register for this FREE program, call 1-888-660-HEAL (4325) or visit www.silvercross.org

Why Oncoplastic Breast Surgery May be an Option for You

A breast cancer diagnosis is traumatic, but for many women surgery need not be disfiguring. Mastectomy with implant or flap reconstruction is a time tested way to give women a more normal appearance after surgery for breast cancer. If the breast is preserved, lumpectomy with radiation can leave many women with a distorted breast. 

During Oncoplastic Breast Surgery, the lumpectomy defect is immediately reconstructed using the remaining natural breast tissue, no implants. The breast is sculpted to realign the nipple and areola, minimize defects, and to restore a natural look to the breast shape. The opposite breast can often be modified to create balance and symmetry.

“Oncoplastic breast surgery can offer a patient the best hope to safely excise all of the lesions without the need for mastectomy,” said Patricia Clark, M.D., who is a board certified general surgeon at Silver Cross Hospital.

Prior to surgery, Dr. Clark carefully conducts a preoperative planning phase to review the size and location of tumors and to assess the breast size and shape. She also studies any previous surgical technique that was done on a patient. Dr. Clark’s training and experience with breast reduction and mastopexy techniques allows her to modify plastic surgery techniques and incisions to remove the tumor and reconstruct the defect in one operation.

Adjacent breast tissue is rearranged to fill the lumpectomy defect caused by removal of the cancer and to restore a natural breast shape.   For patients who have had previous surgery, she can predict the altered blood supply to the breast and design a surgical approach to preserve this while safely removing any lesions. Advanced imaging available at Silver Cross Hospital, such as breast MRI and MRI guided needle localization, allows Dr Clark to identify the location and extent of disease prior to surgery so that the best procedure can be selected to eliminate all known disease.

Minimally invasive biopsy techniques performed on suspicious lesions help patients avoid unnecessary surgery and can identify cancerous lesions early, leading to increased survival.

“The innovative combination of plastic surgery and cancer surgery techniques leaves the patient with complete excision of the cancer, a very good cosmetic result, and no need for further surgery,” says Dr. Clark.

Benefits to Oncoplastic Breast Surgery

There are many benefits for patients who have Oncoplastic Breast Surgery. Through this new technology, typically it is a single surgery where generally no drains are used. Further, the procedure may be outpatient or require only one night in the hospital.

The recovery time is faster than with a mastectomy and a reconstruction, which often requires several surgical procedures to complete. Not all patients are suitable candidates for oncoplastic reconstruction, although, for many people oncoplastic techniques can reduce the trauma of a breast cancer diagnosis.

Dr Clark also works with plastic surgeons when a team approach would best achieve the desired outcome and when patients choose to have surgery on the normal breast to achieve symmetry.

About Dr. Patricia Clark

Patricia Clark, M.D., is a board certified general surgeon on staff at Silver Cross Hospital. Dr. Clark attended medical school at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center School of Medicine in Denver, CO. She completed a general surgery residency at Exempla - St. Joseph Hospital in Denver, CO and underwent additional training in plastic surgery at Pennsylvania State University Milton Hershey College of Medicine in Hershey, PA.

She is an accomplished breast surgeon who specializes in oncoplastic breast surgery for patients choosing breast conservation to optimize aesthetic outcomes. To schedule an appointment, call her office at (815) 310-0015, which is located at 1890 Silver Cross Boulevard, Suite 550, New Lenox.

About Silver Cross Hospital

Silver Cross Hospital is a not-for-profit health care provider serving Will County and southwest suburban communities since 1895. Silver Cross has been recognized as a Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals National Award winner for seven consecutive years and as a Hospital of Choice by the American Alliance of Healthcare Providers. With over 3,000 employees, physicians and volunteers, Silver Cross operates a 289-bed acute care hospital and 9 satellite facilities providing outpatient services and physician offices. Silver Cross opened a state-of-the-art replacement hospital on February 26, 2012 at I-355 and Route 6 in New Lenox. To learn more about Silver Cross Hospital or a referral to a physician on staff, visit www.silvercross.org or call 1-888-660-HEAL (4325).

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