Mastectomy in South Korea

The surgical procedure to remove all the breast tissues from a person’s breast partially or completely in order to prevent or treat breast cancer is known as Mastectomy. 

Usually, there are two ways to cure breast cancer, the first one is Mastectomy could be one option for treating breast cancer for people who are still in the early stages of it. The second option is Lumpectomy or Breast-Conserving surgery in which only the tumor gets removed instead of removing the complete breast.

Deciding between the two namely mastectomy and lumpectomy is a difficult decision. Because both the methods are almost equally effective in preventing the recurrence of breast cancer. The latest techniques of mastectomy are able to preserve the skin of the breast that enables the appearance of the breast to be more natural after the procedure. This type of mastectomy is also called skin-sparing mastectomy. 

Why is it required?

 The mastectomy could be the treatment option concerning several kinds of breast cancer, such as: 

• Stages I or II (early-stage) breast cancer
• Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), or the noninvasive type of breast cancer
• Stage III (considered locally advanced) of the breast cancer — post-chemotherapy
• Paget's disease of the breast
• Inflammatory breast cancer — post-chemotherapy
• Locally recurrent breast cancer

Ideal Candidate for Mastectomy

People with the following conditions are the ideal candidate.

• Have several tumors(at least 2) in different parts of the breast.
• Presence of widespread microcalcifications
• Recurrence of breast cancer
• Possess a gene mutation so prone to developing another cancer.
• Presence of disease such as scleroderma, lupus, etc hence cannot tolerate radiation’s side effects.

Factors affecting the cost of Mastectomy

Factors affecting the mastectomy cost include:

• Country
• Type of mastectomy, 
• Need, the number of chemotherapy and RT cycles, 
• Medication, 
• Life long care, 
• The cost of accommodation, 
• Food, travel, etc.