Receiving the results of her early stage breast cancer surgery, Ms. Han decided to have surgery in the hope of having the chance to return home to take care of her children.
Ms. Tran Ngoc Han (51 years old, Soc Trang) said that 3 years ago, she discovered that both breasts had benign tumors, and was treated with vacuum aspiration (VABB) at a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, then had regular check-ups every 6 months. For the past month, she has occasionally felt pain in both breasts. Many people advised her to apply leaves, take herbal medicine... which would have few side effects and be cheap. However, she decided to go to the hospital for examination and treatment.
She was examined by Master, Doctor Huynh Ba Tan (Breast Surgery Department, Tam Anh General Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City) in the areas of both breasts. When examining the left breast, the doctor felt a patch with a slightly firmer density than the surrounding area. Suspecting an abnormality, the doctor ordered an ultrasound and mammogram to make an accurate conclusion. Doctor Tan used a pen to mark the suspected location to warn the radiologists to pay closer attention to this area.
As expected, the ultrasound showed an area of structural disturbance, and the mammogram showed diffuse calcification corresponding to the marked area. The conclusion was that the left breast had a lesion classified as BIRADS 4A. Dr. Tan explained that these were lesions with a low risk of malignancy. Out of 100 people with breast examination results classified as BIRADS 4A, only 2-10 had breast cancer.
After consulting with ultrasound and mammography, Dr. Tan ordered a fine needle aspiration (FNA) under the guidance of an ultrasound probe. After 24 hours, Ms. Han received the results of a papillary lesion, with a 20% chance of malignancy, and the doctor recommended a biopsy of the tumor for a final diagnosis. After reviewing the results, the doctor determined that the papilloma was benign but had a component of carcinoma in situ (DCIS). However, thanks to the doctor's surgery, the margin of the specimen was free of malignant cells.
Master, Doctor Huynh Ba Tan (2nd right) and the team of doctors from the Breast Surgery Department perform surgery on a patient. Photo: Nguyen Tram
Dr. Tan explained that in situ cancer is stage 0 cancer, with a cure rate of almost 100%. With this stage of breast cancer, patients have two treatment options: radiation to the mammary gland and axillary lymph nodes to prevent recurrence or surgery to remove the entire mammary gland and biopsy the sentinel lymph nodes. Sentinel lymph node biopsy is a new technique to accurately assess whether the axillary lymph nodes have metastasized or not, from which the doctor will decide to remove the axillary lymph nodes to avoid complications of hand swelling for the patient. This technique cannot be performed everywhere. At Tam Anh General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, doctors of the Breast Surgery Department perform this technique for all patients with early-stage breast cancer to reduce complications of hand swelling, hand numbness, and limited arm movement for the patient.
Because she wanted to be treated early and return to take care of her children, she chose to have a total mastectomy and sentinel lymph node biopsy. Although the doctor advised her to have breast reconstruction during the mastectomy to preserve her physical beauty, she refused because she wanted the fastest recovery time.
She said that more than 50 years ago, she was abandoned by her relatives at the door of an orphanage. Growing up in the love of the community, she loved and sympathized with orphans more and more. Every day, she wished to have the health to continue taking care of the children.
On May 10, during the surgery, the doctor removed the axillary lymph nodes for immediate testing. The team continued to remove the entire left breast. The test results showed that the axillary lymph nodes had not metastasized. The patient did not need to have the axillary lymph nodes removed, so there was little risk of future hand swelling. With the support of modern machinery, the surgery was completed in an hour. According to the doctors, the patient was diagnosed promptly and treated early, so there were few sequelae.
After waking up, she was happy because she still had the chance to go home to her children. For more than 20 years, she has been a mother, a father, and a relative of abandoned children. Lulling her children to sleep on hot afternoons, soothing crying children in the middle of the night, teaching them to say their first words... all became her joy and happiness. She confided that the job was hard, but seeing her children grow up and mature every day gave her more motivation to try harder.
According to Dr. Tan, breast cancer in the asymptomatic stage is often difficult to diagnose but treatment is often quick and easy. The American Cancer Society cites that stage 0 breast cancer that is detected early and treated promptly has a 5-year survival rate of nearly 100%. On the contrary, when the disease has clinical manifestations, such as a palpable tumor in the breast, diagnosis is easy but the treatment process is complicated and long-term. Therefore, doctors advise women to have annual breast cancer screening at medical facilities with full modern diagnostic equipment such as breast ultrasound, mammography, and breast MRI.
Duc An
* Patient's name has been changed.
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