Quality of life after breast cancer

Breast cancer is still the most common cancer in women in 2018. Every year, more than 6,000 women in Switzerland are diagnosed with breast cancer. In one third of patients, complete removal of the breast is necessary. This means a significant cut in their self-esteem and body perception. Plastic reconstructive breast surgery at Rivr is therefore an integral part of the therapeutic concept for breast carcinoma. In accordance with the oncological therapy, every woman has the right to be informed about all reconstruction options prior to surgery.

Basically, reconstruction after breast carcinoma can be distinguished between reconstruction with foreign and autologous tissue. Each technique has advantages and disadvantages that must be weighed individually. In reconstruction with foreign tissue, the skin must be pre-stretched before a silicone implant can be inserted. Advantages of this reconstruction method include shorter surgery time with quick recovery and no additional scars. Disadvantages often include multiple surgeries, induration due to capsular fibrosis, a foreign body sensation, and more difficult to achieve symmetry with the opposite side.

The basic principle of plastic surgery is to replace like with like, which takes into account reconstruction with autologous tissue. Soft glandular and fatty tissue can be replaced with freely grafted tissue from the lower abdomen, thigh, buttocks and back. Advantages here are that in one operation the breast can be reconstructed with a warm, soft naturally aging tissue without later complications or foreign body sensation. The disadvantage is the longer, technically more difficult operation with slower recovery. In addition, a scar is necessary to remove the autologous tissue. Rarely, the transplanted autologous tissue may die.

Both in the case of reconstruction with silicone implants and with autologous tissue, the skin and soft tissues can be improved with autologous fat injection. This involves a complex filtration and enrichment process to obtain highly purified autologous fatty tissue, which is then injected around the silicone implant or autologous tissue.

The goal is to give our patients back a piece of quality of life and normality.

As a plastic breast surgeon in the Breast Center of the Andreas Clinic in Cham and former senior physician at the Cantonal Hospital in Lucerne, I can offer you all types of reconstruction on an individual basis.