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Woman with cancer in right breast makes unusual decision
SHE was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer last year.
Her doctor’s advice: Either undergo surgery to remove the cancerous tissue on her right breast or have the breast removed.
But Ms Susan Chan, 47, took it a step further – she had both breasts removed.
 Ms Chan, a regional project executive at a non-governmental organisation, said she opted for the drastic move as she wanted to reduce the chances of the cancer coming back – never mind that a relapse was still possible.
Doctors told The New Paper that it is unusual for patients to undergo bilateral mastectomy (removal of both breasts).
Ms Chan was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in February last year at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) after a polyclinic doctor found a lump during a routine check-up earlier that month. She had a 3-cm tumour in her right breast.
Her doctor, Dr Juliana Chen, clinical director of The Breast Clinic at TTSH, advised her to either go for a lumpectomy (removal of only the affected tissue) or a mastectomy (removal of the breast) – in this case, the right breast.
But she decided to have both her breasts removed – a procedure carried out in August.
Ms Chan spoke about her battle with cancer at the launch of The Breast Clinic last week.
Why not just remove the tumour?
Ms Chan told The New Paper: “The breast was already weakened by the tumour, so the chances of having another (tumour) were high. Removing the breast reduces this possibility.”
But why did she have her left breast removed as well?
Ms Chan said that a mammogram and an ultra-sound scan of her left breast done in March last year had revealed lumps. While they did not appear cancerous, she was worried.
She added: “If I removed my right and not my left (breast), it would look imbalanced.”
There is no history of breast cancer in her family.
Undergoing treatment
Ms Chan, who is single, went through eight rounds of chemotherapy for five months before having the mastectomy done. After the operation, she had 25 sessions of radiation treatment.
Dr Chen, 35, told The New Paper that it is rare for someone who does not have cancer in both breasts to opt for bilateral mastectomy.
Apart from Ms Chan, she has seen only one such patient in the past four years.
She noted: “(These) patients usually have a strong family history of breast cancer. They opt for (bilateral mastectomy) because they have a genetic risk of developing breast cancer in the other breast.”
Dr Chen cautioned, however, that even after a mastectomy, about 5 per cent of the breast tissue is left, so there is still a possibility of the cancer returning.
Dr Wong Seng Weng, 40, a consultant oncologist at The Cancer Centre, noted that a bilateral mastectomy should be done only for women with a strong family history of breast cancer and who have had a genetic test to prove they have inherited the cancer-causing gene.
Such patients form only about 1 per cent of those who have breast cancer, Dr Wong said.
He added that a relapse could occur in other parts of the body, not just the breasts.
“When a breast cancer patient has a relapse, the cancer rarely comes back in the breasts. It can come back in the bones, liver or lungs,” he added.
After the mastectomy, Ms Chan did not opt for reconstructive surgery, where tissue and fat from the stomach is used to reconstruct the breast.
She said: “I just didn’t want to go through another operation.”
But she does not feel less of a woman.
She said. “I’m very happy the way I am. What I want is my health.”
Indeed, she wears fitting clothes. Even plunging necklines are not off-limits, with some layering underneath.
Ms Chan lives with her elderly parents, both retirees in their 70s, and her sister, 53, in a landed home in Highland Road.
Her illness has changed her outlook on life. She is less impatient, she said.
“Having cancer is like having a ticking time bomb in you. You never know when it (will) explode so you must be prepared.
“I didn’t want to go back to my old ways...I wanted to change for the better.”
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