Curing breast cancer: 200 doctors watch Turkish expert perform five surgeries

‘Breast Augmentation and Reconstruction’ workshop held at Jinnah hospital.

KARACHI:

Around 200 doctors were pacing the halls of Jinnah hospital on Wednesday to attend the second day of a workshop on ‘Breast Augmentation and Reconstruction’, organised by the hospital and Johnson and Johnson pharmaceuticals company.

A doctor from American Hospital Istanbul Dr C Reha Yavuzer, who had given a lecture on breast reconstruction on Tuesday, conducted five surgeries with junior and senior doctors from all over the country on Wednesday. Although the workshop itself was about reconstruction, some of the doctors also spoke about the incidence of breast cancer and how to tackle it.



If breast cancer is detected at an early stage, the tumor can be surgically removed and a device implanted in its place, explained Prof. Sughra Perveen, a consultant plastic and general surgeon at Jinnah hospital, while speaking at the workshop. “Women should not wait for any growth on the breast to start hurting before consulting a doctor,” she added. “A patient can return to normal life within six months of treatment, if the disease is detected in time.” Prof. Perveen also cited the example of a young woman with the disease whose family refused to get her treated because she was getting married. “I advised them to go through treatment first but they refused and the girl died three months after the wedding,” she explained. “Many women, in rural areas as well as in cities, die because they are too embarrassed to tell their parents about the disease.”

“Over 80 per cent of the people who contract breast cancer in Pakistan visit the doctor when the disease has spread considerably and it is difficult to treat them,” lamented Dr Salim Soomro, an assistant professor at Jinnah hospital. He told The Express Tribune that a lot of women avoid breast feeding, which increases the possibility of acquiring the disease. “The life span of a breast cancer patient can be increased by up to 10 years even if the disease is detected in the second or third stage,” he added. The severity of most cancers is spread over a range of one to four stages with the fourth being the most severe. The doctor stressed that all district hospitals must be equipped with mammography machines that can be used to detect breast cancer. While speaking on breast reconstruction, the doctor pointed out that surgically reshaping one’s breasts is now becoming increasingly common all over the world and women in Pakistan can also avail it.



Dr Vikash Singh, who also attended the workshop, explained that when he had been posted at Chandka Medical College Hospital, Larkana, he saw a number of aged women who were suffering from breast cancer. “In rural areas, women aren’t even willing to discuss the disease with female doctors,” he lamented.

At the end of the workshop, Dr Yavuzer appreciated that the doctors at Jinnah hospital were well educated on breast reconstruction. “There were no complications in the five surgeries we did today and the staff at Jinnah hospital was very efficient,” he explained. “I felt like I was in my own operation theatre.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 21^st, 2013.