Breast Cancer Surgeon and Survivor Undergoes Nerve-Sparing Procedure

San Francisco-based surgeon Dr. Anne Peled, a two-time breast cancer survivor, sat down with CURE to discuss undergoing a sensation-preserving mastectomy, a procedure that she co-developed.

Peled underwent the nerve-sparing technique developed to protect post-mastectomy sensation last year, and her husband, nerve surgeon Dr. Ziv Peled, performed the operation alongside a Los Angeles-based team who she helped educated and train.

She spoke with CURE about the procedure, and shared advice for fellow cancer survivors.

CURE: What advice do you have for people in the survivorship period of their lives?

Peled: One of the things that I've learned is, unfortunately, once you've had cancer, that possibility of recurrence always looms. But I think what I've learned for myself is finding the moments where you can be proactive and have some control over that. So whether that's routinely getting your screenings and following up with all of your providers, or for me, exercise has really good data on recurrence, and so I do that regularly. And I think finding those places that you feel like you can do something proactive is so incredibly helpful for managing that emotional roller coaster.

Can you tell me a bit about sensation-preserving mastectomy, the procedure that you helped pioneer and that you were a recipient of yourself?

Having been through this myself, it really was so game changing to not go into surgery feeling like I might be like one of my friends who had a non-sensation-preserving mastectomy and doesn't even know her sports bra is on. And I do think the concept of trying to keep sensation, not have a huge part of your body that's numb for the rest of your life, and then also avoiding chronic pain that comes with nerve injury, is so important. So I am really grateful that my husband, who helped pioneer this procedure with me, was able to be there for my surgery, essentially to look for nerves that could be saved and reconstruct ones that couldn't be so that over the next year to two, most of my sensation hopefully, will come back, and it's already working, which is really exciting.

What do you think are some of the biggest misconceptions regarding cancer survivorship?

I hear a lot about patients feeling like they're responsible for things that happen, whether it's recurrence or outcomes, and I think it's so important to know that unfortunately, there is a lot that that is out of our control in that way. And so, making sure that people try really hard not to blame themselves for the things that happen around survivorship is really important. And so, allowing people to really know that, getting psychosocial support in survivorship — it's hard, there's a lot going on — is, really, also very key. And then I think the other one is [the tendency] to think that there's this time that all of a sudden it just stops, like, you were a cancer patient, or you had cancer, and then now all of a sudden, you fall into survivorship. It's a spectrum. It's ongoing, and it's going to look different for everyone.

Do you have any other any other advice or words of encouragement for our audience of survivors, patients and caregivers?

I always love reminding people how important it is to really trust your gut and also know that getting more information through multiple opinions is always important. Breast cancer, in so many positive ways, is constantly evolving and changing. And there are certainly things that were available to me now with this cancer diagnosis that weren't available when I was first diagnosed in 2017, and so making sure that you're getting access to the best techniques, technologies, approaches, maybe clinical trials if something comes up, is so incredible, because things change and evolve. And we want to make sure people are getting the best care.

Transcript has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

For more news on cancer updates, research and education, don’t forget to subscribe to CURE®’s newsletters here.