A patient with breast cancer was saved in Lviv: it is a rare disease for men – News

An oncoplastic approach was applied to the patient – he not only had the tumor removed, but also made the site of the defect as aesthetic as possible

Photo: First Medical Association of Lviv

In Lviv, doctors saved a 66-year-old man who was diagnosed with breast cancer. The tumor reached 8 centimeters and had already begun to disintegrate.

In men, this disease occurs 100 times less often than in women, are reported in the First Medical Association of Lviv.

“​​66-year-old Orest Stakhiv could not even think that men have breast cancer. When he first felt discomfort in the area of ​​the left areola a year and a half ago, he did not attach any importance to it. He thought that he had just rubbed the seat belt in the car, because he put a wallet in his breast pocket”– they say in the medical facility.

The diagnosis, which was announced by the doctors after the ultrasound and CT examination, stunned Mr. Orest.

Photo: First Medical Association of Lviv

This summer, Mr. Orest’s daughter noticed that the left part of his sternum was purple, and a growth appeared near the nipple. The family turned to doctors. After an ultrasound and a CT scan, they announced the diagnosis, which shocked the man, because such an ailment is very rare.

Since the tumor had already begun to disintegrate, there was no time to delay – it was necessary to operate as soon as possible. A multidisciplinary team of mammologists, oncologists and reconstructive surgeons worked with the patient.

Mr. Orest was operated on in two stages. First, oncologists performed a mastectomy – removal of the mammary gland together with the tumor and part of the pectoral muscle.

“Further, a lymph node dissection was performed. This is the removal of the axillary lymph nodes, because it is through them that the disease spreads. This had to be done without fail in order to avoid recurrence.”– Yaroslav Vovchanskyi, an oncologist at the St. Panteleimon Hospital, tells about the first stage of the operation.

Then reconstructive surgeons continued the work.

“For us, it is important not only to remove the tumor, but also to make the site of the defect as aesthetic as possible. So we performed plastic surgery. We did it with a rotary flap – we closed the defect with the help of the widest muscle of the patient’s back.” – says Hnat Gerych, head of the surgical department of the St. Panteleimon Hospital.

Both interventions were successful and the patient went home already on the 10th day. Ahead of him is a long complex treatment.

“Our doctors urge readers to be more attentive to their health. Regularly undergo preventive examinations, do not ignore changes in well-being and seek help in time.” – they emphasize in the medical facility.

Previously in Lviv conducted a rare transplant: a man was transplanted with a heart and a kidney at the same time.