A 37-year-old homemaker, Mousumi Roy from Kuikota in Midnapore district conjured up all her inner strength to ward off disease during Durga Puja with a breast and ovarian cancer risk reduction surgery that was performed for the first time in eastern India at Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals, Kolkata. She later lost her maternal aunt to the disease as well. Incidentally, her father died of cancer too.

So, when her BRCA test report came positive this April pronouncing her at high risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer she agreed readily to the suggestion of a left-sided “nipple-sparing mastectomy” (removal of breast tissue keeping the nipple intact) and immediate reconstruction of the breast using an implant and her own muscles.

Her surgeon, consultant surgical oncologist, Apollo Kolkata, Dr. Suvadip Chakrabarti, had conducted the surgery on the right breast in January 2020. Last month, Dr. Chakrabarti again led the team for the eight-hour-surgery on the left breast and for removal of the ovaries. The team also comprised Dr. Ramna Banerjee (consultant gynecologist), Dr.Saptarshi Bhattacharya (consultant plastic surgeon), and Dr. Tapas Kar from surgical oncology.

The course of treatment in this case was also seconded by the National Cancer Grid of India.