Amidst the ongoing health-policy debate, Los Angeles surgeon Joel Aronowitz, M.D., founder of the Breast Preservation Foundation, furthered his organization’s health education and quality of care mission by meeting Washington policymakers to discuss how health care reform can help breast cancer patients be informed of all their treatment choices and have access to more advanced techniques like skin-sparing mastectomy.
As the clinical chief of the Plastic Surgery Division at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, Dr. Aronowitz often witnesses the emotional suffering of breast cancer patients who continue to needlessly undergo transverse mastectomy when more advanced and accepted techniques like skin-sparing mastectomy are available and would effectively treat cancer without disfigurement.
“Breast cancer patients will continue to suffer needlessly if they are not informed of all available surgical choices, including skin-sparing mastectomy, an alternative to traditional mastectomy which continues to leave patients with terribly disfiguring scars,” said Dr. Aronowitz, who published a 2008 study finding that more than one-third of his home state’s breast surgeons still do not utilize the skin-sparing mastectomy (SSM) technique.
“Because more women are surviving breast cancer, we should recognize the validity in women wanting better cosmetic results from breast cancer surgery. Of growing concern is the fear of disfigurement that might prevent many women from undergoing mammography screenings for early detection,” he added.