FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM OCTOBER 3, 2019 • BREAST CANCER AWARENESS • THE QUEENS COURIER 39
Women Battling Breast Cancer Turn to NYU Winthrop’s
Hidden Scar® Surgery – A Breakthrough that Removes
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NYU Winthrop Hospital is the firstever
Hidden Scar® Center of Excellence
on Long Island, offering an advanced
approach to breast cancer surgery that
removes cancerous tissue but hides visible
scarring. More than 65 percent of women
who’ve undergone breast cancer surgery
are said to be left feeling self-conscious and
unhappy with the remaining scar. Many of
these women were not able to benefit from
concealing surgical techniques, due to the
nature or location of their breast cancer.
Not anymore.
“This procedure should be the new
‘normal’ for breast cancer surgery,” said
Virginia Maurer, MD, former Chief of
Breast Surgery at NYU Winthrop and
previous Director of the Breast Health
Program. “We’re proud to pave the way,
introducing this important advancement
to women on Long Island.”
Just ask Andrea, a Hidden Scar patient
who discovered that she had breast cancer
following a routine mammogram. “If I have
a scar, it will always remind me that I had
breast cancer and that I could have it again.”
Then Andrea heard about the Hidden
Scar program and knew this unique
procedure, which would eradicate the
breast cancer but still leave her feeling
whole – was for her. Following her
successful Hidden Scar procedure, she
explained, “I don’t have a dimple or any
kind of indication that something was
taken out of me. Isn’t that amazing? I don’t
have to look at the scar and remember.”
The procedure also proved right for
another Hidden Scar patient, Kim, who is
young and single but unfortunately carries
the BRAC gene mutation. Kim was told
she had an 88 percent chance of getting
breast cancer. Her viewpoint: “I can either
chance it – or prevent it from happening.”
Kim opted for a double mastectomy via the
Hidden Scar procedure.
“You can’t see my incision at all,” said
Kim. “Having the Hidden Scar procedure
allowed me to make the mastectomy more
private. You don’t have to be reminded
every time you wear a bikini. I like the
way I look, and now I don’t have to worry
about cancer.”
The Hidden Scar approach involves a
specially trained surgeon utilizing highly
advanced and unique equipment to make
a small incision – much smaller than with
traditional breast surgery – in a hidden
area to remove a tumor. The cancerous
tissue is removed through that single
incision, thus preserving the natural
shape of the breast while reducing visible
scarring. This small incision may be made
in the natural crease beneath the breast;
in the armpit hidden in a natural fold; or
along the edges of the areola, which can
be very desirable for some mastectomies,
since it is a nipple-sparing technique. The
Hidden Scar approach requires consistent
illumination of the surgical cavity, which
is guided by advanced photonics – a
sophisticated amplification of light –
that enhances visualization of the tumor,
so that tumors once too challenging to
remove through hidden folds may now
benefit from that approach. The Hidden
Scar approach can be used both in a breastconserving
lumpectomy that removes only
part of the breast tissue, or a mastectomy
that removes all of the breast tissue.
Shubhada Dhage, MD, Director of
Breast Surgical Services at NYU Winthrop
Hospital and Director of the Breast
Health Program, said of the Hidden Scar
approach, “Our goal is to go well above
and beyond standards of care, and that
includes helping a patient continue to
feel like a whole woman by using the
Hidden Scar procedure to minimize
disfigurement.”
Patients who undergo the Hidden Scar
procedure experience optimal clinical and
cosmetic outcomes and are at no higher
risk of cancer recurrence than patients
who undergo other breast cancer surgical
techniques. The Hidden Scar procedure is
available to most breast cancer candidates,
with some exclusions based on the size
and location of a tumor, breast shape, and
breast size.
To learn more about NYU Winthrop’s
Hidden Scar® Center of Excellence
call 1-866-WINTHROP or visit www.
nyuwinthrop.org.
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