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Dr. Stephen Ray
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VIDEO: Dr. Ray - What Is Oncoplastic Surgery?

Listen as Dr. Ray explains oncoplastic surgery.

Dr. Ray:
Oncoplastic surgery is a relatively new concept in the field of breast oncology surgery. Previously, the focus has been, remove the tumor, with very little concern about how the incisions were placed, or where they were placed in the breast and to a major degree, not that much focus on what the breast looked like afterwards.

In most cases, reconstructive surgeons have been utilized after the breast cancer has been removed. Sometimes at the exact time it’s been removed, but it’s been difficult to sort of bring the two together to get the reconstructive surgeon to come in after the breast oncology surgeon has done their work. And so, in fact, very little surgery is done with the plastic surgeon in most, particularly community institutions and a lot of universities just because of timing.

As the whole field has matured, it’s become clear, and often I think really mandated by women, that they would like some other choices and, so there’s been a merging field of what’s called oncoplastic surgery which means that you’re taking all of the principles of oncology surgery, removing the tumor in a way that addresses the nature of the tumor and the size of the breast and the location of the tumor and then, using what have been traditional plastic and reconstructive strategies to plan the incisions, put the breasts back together. And so, the breast surgeons are now trying to get training in plastic and reconstructive surgery relative to the breast.

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