Breast augmentation Korea

Today, I would like to share about the relationship between breast cancer and breast augmentation.



Here are some of the general questions;
1. I already had a breast augmentation. What happens to the implants if I suffer from breast cancer in the future?
2. If the implants are removed because of the breast cancer, can I get reconstruction again with other implants?
3. What is the cost of using implants for breast reconstruction?



Let’s answer these questions one by one.

But, before I answer them I think that I need to share about the various treating methods of breast cancer.

If the tumors become clear and are separated without the lymph nodes spreading (early stages of breast cancer), we can just remove the tumors
In such situation, we do not need to remove the implant and recover it.



But in the more severe case of breast cancer, we need to remove the polluted area and also the implant. We need to conduct a surgery to remove the breast cancer and start on the reconstruction right away (stage 1). There are times when we assign another date after a few months to conduct second surgery (stage 2).

Whether it is stage 1 or stage 2, the reconstruction is done with the implant or the patient fat can be used (rectus abdominis muscle or latissimus dorsi muscle flap surgery) or even both. Anyways, the breast cancer reconstruction can be conducted with implants.



However, there are some differences in this compared to the 1st breast augmentation surgery. If the penetration rate of the tumor is high, then we cannot reuse the original implants. We need to use new ones.

Also, the size of the implant must be smaller. When we remove the cancer tumors, we need to remove the surrounding tissue and skin as well, therefore if we use a large sized implant, we will not be able to close the skin with less tissue.

We can also apply the radiation treatment but we cannot use the implants at this point in time because there is a high change of skin necrosis.

So in answering the above questions with such knowledge,

1. I already had a breast augmentation. What happens to the implants if I suffer from breast cancer in the future?

We can maintain the breast augmentation effects if we find the cancer in the early stages. But if the cancer is any worse, we need to remove the implant along with the cancer tumor.

2. If the implants are removed because of the breast cancer, can I get correction again with the implants? 

As explained above, we can reconstruct with the implants. But this all depends on how elastic the skin is.
If the incision area is large and if there needs to be much skin removed, then reconstruction with implants becomes difficult.



Also if you are planned for radiation treatment after the surgery, then the implant cannot be used also.



If you are unclear about something, we can conduct rectus abdominis muscle or latissimus dorsi muscle flap surgery with the implants as well but small sized implants would be used.

If the patient wants implant no matter what but has less tissue cells and less elastic skin, then we could use the saline gab first to expand the skin and then apply the cohesive gel implant.


We use the saline bag first and close out the incision. Then we increase the amount of saline fluid over time to expand on the size. After a few months, the breast skin would expand and we will be able to see some improvement.

After this expansion is complete, we would conduct the reconstruction by removing the saline bag and replacing it with cohesive gel implant.



3. All the global companies that produce good quality implants provide warranties on their products. The implants used to replace the original ones during the breast cancer surgery or reconstruction can get warranty as well.



Also the reconstruction surgery after the breast cancer surgery can be reimbursed from the National Health Insurance in Korea. So, one can perceive that she has removed some burden on the cost.

However, this compensation from the National Health Insurance is very low and it cannot even cover the cost of the implants. I am not sure whether the patient would able to pay the cost of reconstruction surgery although she gets support from the National Health Insurance.

Today, we looked at the relationship between breast augmentation reconstruction after breast cancer surgery and the implants.

Thank you.