Breast Oncoplasty Surgery in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Lessons From India

PurposeBreast cancer is the most common cancer in India, affecting all socio-economic strata. Despite its growing global acceptance, Breast Oncoplasty Surgery (BOS) remains nascent in India, necessitating local context-specific innovative delivery models for clinicians and the general public. Here, we present experiences from Orchids Breast Health Clinic (OBHC; Pune, India) with the implementation of BOS clinical services, training, and research and community outreach.MethodsOBHC, a dedicated breast unit, has established the first dedicated BOS clinic in India, conducted hands-on training workshops for trainee surgeons, developed an MCh degree program in breast oncoplasty with the University of East Anglia (Norwich, United Kingdom), undertaken BOS research in Indian patients, and created outreach programs to popularize BOS.ResultsA cost-effective one surgeon–dual role concept wherein the same surgeon performs onco- and plastic surgery and one-stage implant-based breast reconstruction has been adopted. Sin...