Oncoplastic Surgery

Breast cancer treatment can change the appearance of your breasts. Oncoplastic surgery is specialized care from cancer surgeons and plastic surgeons with training in techniques that provide cancer treatment and restore natural-looking breasts in one procedure. This approach is gentler on your body than having breast reconstruction as a separate surgery.

This type of surgery may be right for you if your cancer treatment plan includes a lumpectomy, in which some tissue is removed rather than the entire breast.  Surgeons use lumpectomy for cancers affecting a limited area.

Oncoplastic reconstruction is not an available option or the best option in all cases of breast cancer. We work with other breast cancer experts, including medical oncologists and radiation oncologists, to provide the best and most comprehensive plan of care for your situation.

There are many oncoplastic techniques. We discuss the one that’s right for you and what to expect. Your care may include:

• Breast lift or reduction: This involves changing the size and positioning of one or both breasts so they look similar.

• Incision planning: Surgeons give careful consideration to incision placement for a less visible scar. Incisions may be under your breast or along the curve of the areola (darkened, center area of the breast).

• Nipple relocation: We may reposition the nipple in the center of the breast and as a mirror image of the other one.
   
• Tissue rearrangement: This involves repositioning breast tissue to fill in gaps left after cancer surgery.
   
• Breast reconstruction: After mastectomy or lumpectomy to one breast, it may be appropriate to revise the other breast in order to achieve a symmetrical appearance.

Next steps

Your oncologist will refer you to an expert oncoplastic surgeon.

You may initially meet with an advanced practice provider, such as a physician’s assistant or nurse practitioner who works with the surgeon in the operating room.