Breast Service

Services of the Breast Tumour Stream include:

• diagnosis and management of breast cancer and pre-cancerous diseases
• surgery, reconstruction and medical and radiation oncology.

At the Women’s, we focus on the initial assessment and diagnosis, breast and reconstructive surgery, and supportive care of women through their breast cancer journey.

Services available

At the Women’s, we focus on the initial assessment and diagnosis, breast and reconstructive surgery, and supportive care of women through their breast cancer journey, providing:

• breast symptom assessment and management
• breast imaging
• breast cancer surgery
• medical oncology
• radiation oncology (in association with other providers)
• breast reconstruction / breast plastics after mastectomy
• inherited high risk breast cancer information, testing and access to risk-reduction surgery
• breast reduction surgery (medically indicated)
• education and supportive care to empower decision-making.

Inclusion criteria

The Breast Service aligns with Victorian Statewide Referral Criteria. View specific criteria for breast services, from the Department of Health:

• Advice on inherited breast cancer (high-risk patients)
• Assessment for breast reconstruction surgery
• Breast cancer (suspected or confirmed)
• Breast lumps and other conditions
• Breast reduction surgery

Urgent referral

Please mark the fax referral as urgent or call the Breast Fellow or Breast Care Nurse on our direct line: (03) 8345 3565.

Exclusion criteria

Cosmetic breast surgery

Referral instructions

Essential information

All referrals from health professionals must include essential demographic, medical and social history details, and relevant information about the presenting complaint.

In detail: Women's health referrals

Investigations

• Recent copies of available results: mammography/breast ultrasound/biopsies

Send referral

GPs and other specialist doctors can refer directly to the Breast Service via Fast Fax: (03) 8345 3036.

Only one referral is required, and we will coordinate care with the other VCCC hospitals (Royal Melbourne Hospital, Peter Mac).

Use our Women’s Health Referral Form – jump to Referral templates (Downloads).

Triage

Referrals to assess breast concerns like breast lumps, changes or radiological concerns are triaged and accepted based on the information provided in GP referral.

It is often appropriate for some imaging to be done prior to referral, including bilateral mammography for most patients over 40, and an ultrasound of a symptomatic area to help identify the urgency of a referral.

Many presentations and imaging findings can be managed in general practice without referral to the Breast Service.

Urgent referrals where the diagnosis is, or is likely to be cancer, will generally be seen within one week. Less urgent referrals will generally be seen within 90 days. Triage is based on information provided in GP referral, although phone calls are welcome for discussion of specific cases.

In detail: How referrals are processed

Appointments

Clinics are held at the Women's every Monday morning. The Breast Service also has outpatient clinics at the Royal Melbourne Hospital on Tuesday afternoons and Thursday mornings.

Patients referred to the Breast Service will be offered the next available and appropriate appointment, which may be at the Women’s or the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

If patients have copies of imaging, please ask them to bring to their appointment.

Survivorship and life after treatment

The Combined Breast Service of the Women's and the Royal Melbourne Hospital leads the way in survivorship care for women with early breast cancer. The service works in partnership with GPs to improve quality of care and wellbeing following treatment for early breast cancer.

The model of survivorship care involves:

• Consultation – A consultation with a Breast Care Nurse to look at ongoing issues and concerns, some time after the end of definitive treatment for early breast cancer.
• Follow-up care plan – Development of a tailored plan based on individual needs. This includes a diagnosis and treatment summary, health and wellbeing plan, recommended schedule for follow-up visits, and information on arranging imaging and contacting the Breast Service, if required.
• Shared care arrangement – Development of a well-supported shared care arrangement with a patient’s GP. This includes active communication with GPs, agreement on roles and responsibilities, and an easy-to-follow schedule of follow-up visits with streamlined and rapid access to specialist care if required.
• Sharing information – Enhancing systems to share information between a patient, their GP, other community services and the hospital.
• Annual visit and mammogram – During shared follow-up care, the hospital service will generally see the patient once per year for the first five years. This visit includes a mammogram at the Women’s or the Royal Melbourne Hospital (at no cost). Alternate appointments are with the GP.
• Arrangements beyond 5 years – Beyond five years, we ask the patient's GP to arrange mammograms. These can be done at the Royal Melbourne Hospital to provide continuity. If local imaging is preferred, a disc of the two most recent mammograms can be requested by the patient/GP for comparison.

The Australian Cancer Survivorship Centre has resources and events, to help people move from initial treatment to post treatment and beyond. For more information, visit the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre website.

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