General information on how breast cancer is assessed and treated, and how a review with a breast cancer team at a partner clinic is coordinated.
Important
This is general information, not medical advice. Cancer care decisions must be made with your treating oncologist. In an emergency, contact your local emergency services.
ELAVIA Global coordinates care; it does not provide medical treatment. All cancer care is delivered by independent partner clinics and their licensed oncologists.
A second opinion is an additional view, not a replacement for your current care. Please do not stop, delay or change any treatment without speaking to your treating team.
Breast cancer care usually involves several specialists: breast surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists, radiologists and pathologists. Plans are based on the type of breast cancer, its size and spread, and tests on the tumour such as hormone receptor (ER and PR) and HER2 status.
Depending on these factors, a plan may include surgery (breast-conserving surgery or mastectomy, with assessment of the lymph nodes), radiotherapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, targeted therapy or immunotherapy, often in a particular order. Breast reconstruction may be discussed with the surgical team.
Every plan is individual. The information here is general; your options can only be set out by a treating team after examination, imaging and pathology review.
You contact a coordinator and describe what you would like reviewed. We explain what we can and cannot do: ELAVIA Global coordinates care and does not give medical advice or treatment.
With your consent, your reports, imaging and pathology are shared securely with an oncologist at an independent partner clinic. Original scan files or pathology slides may need to be re-reviewed, or some tests repeated.
A breast team at the partner clinic reviews the imaging and pathology and explains the general plan it would recommend, often after discussion at a tumour board. Repeat imaging or a review of the biopsy may be advised.
If you choose to receive part of your care at a partner clinic, it is delivered by its breast surgery and oncology teams. The coordinator helps plan the timing of each step around travel.
You receive written reports to take home. Ongoing follow-up is usually arranged with your oncologist at home, and the coordinator helps share records between the teams.
These are general examples only. Whether any test or treatment is appropriate is decided by a treating oncologist after examination, imaging and pathology review.
Send copies and keep your originals. The reviewing team may ask for further records, or for some tests to be repeated.
Cost depends on the diagnosis and treatment plan and is confirmed in a written quote after consultation.
ER, PR and HER2 results describe features of the cancer cells. They help oncologists decide which treatments are relevant, such as hormone therapy or HER2-targeted therapy. If these results are missing, the reviewing team may ask for the tests to be done.
Sometimes reconstruction is done in the same operation, sometimes later. It depends on the overall treatment plan, particularly whether radiotherapy is needed. The surgical team discusses the options with you.
Care is sometimes shared between teams, but it needs careful planning so that each step happens at the right time. Agree any shared plan with your oncologists before you travel.
No. Breast cancer can also occur in men, and the same principles of assessment apply.
Share your records and questions. A coordinator explains how a review with a partner oncologist can be arranged. There is no obligation to proceed, and your current care continues as planned.
This is general information, not medical advice. Cancer care decisions must be made with your treating oncologist. In an emergency, contact your local emergency services. ELAVIA Global coordinates care; it does not provide medical treatment. All cancer care is delivered by independent partner clinics and their licensed oncologists.