Asian Hospital now offers new technology for
early breast cancer treatment

Breast cancer is now the leading killer of women ages 35 to 54 worldwide, with almost 500,000 dying from it every year, according to the Philippine Breast Cancer Network. In the Philippines, more and more women are diagnosed with this dreaded disease that has put the country on the map as having the highest incidence rate of breast cancer in Asia today, and the ninth highest in the world.

What’s alarming is that all women are at risk, with approximately 70% of breast cancers occurring in women without the known risk factors. And the numbers continue to rise at an alarming rate for the simple reason that most women only consult a doctor when it is too late.

“One of the main apprehensions of breast cancer patients is seeking consultation because they fear they’ll automatically lose their breast. But we now have the technology that allows breast cancer patients to live as long as those who had undergone mastectomy while at the same time preserving their breast,” explained Dr. Orlando Diomampo, chief of the general and Cancer Surgery section of Asian Hospital and Medical Center. His 16-year clinical experience has been devoted to performing operations on patients with surgical diseases of the head and neck and breast diseases.

Called breast conserving surgery, a minimal invasive surgery that allows women with different forms of breast cancer to have the cancer cells removed while conserving their breasts. Recommended to women at the early stages of their breast cancers (stage 1 and stage 2), this new technique is now being offered at the Asian Hospital and Medical Center.

In this technique, the part with the focus of the cancer in the breast is removed, hence retaining the majority of the breast tissue. Before this treatment, there was radical mastectomy, which entails the removal of the whole breast together with the lymph nodes in the axilla or the armpit. But now the trend of treatment for early breast cancer is leaning towards conserving the breast, which doctors have found to be significant in helping patients feel a sense of well-being even in the midst of an overwhelming battle with the disease.