A person diagnosed with cancer needs a team of medical experts, doctors, specialists and surgeons. There are many types of cancer specialists and if you or someone close to you has been diagnosed with breast cancer, it can put you in a dilemma for which doctor to consult. This article sheds light upon which medical professionals you will need to work with to fight breast cancer. 

  • Primary Care Physician

Detection of cancer is oftentimes done by a primary care physician. The first step to take if you notice a lump or experience unusual pain in your breast is to book an appointment with your primary care doctor. It is also possible that your doctor may discover a lump in our routine examination as well. A primary care doctor won’t help in diagnosing the presence of cancer but can direct you to the appropriate cancer specialist depending on the type of your cancer. There are various specialists including oncologists, surgeons, radiologists, radiation oncologists, radiation therapists and radiation technologists who can help you deal with specific types of cancer. 

Before visiting a cancer specialist, you can follow some steps to prepare yourself for further treatment. Write down your symptoms and family medical history. This will help your doctor understand your case better and suggest the best treatment method for you. If you have questions like “Is breast cancer curable?”, you can also include the questions you have about breast cancer, its symptoms, causes and treatments.

  • An Oncologist

An oncologist is a medical professional who specialises in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. They will recommend you to get imaging tests and other necessary laboratory tests to confirm the presence of cancerous cells in your body or rule out the possibility. The best doctor for breast cancer in Mumbai also helps in staging cancer. Determining the stage of your cancer will help in finding the course of treatment procedures to follow. These may include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy or a combination of these. Your oncologist will be responsible for managing your treatment plan and providing ongoing cancer therapy. They may also recommend you to other specialists if the need be. 

  • A Radiologist

A doctor that specialises in imaging technologies to diagnose diseases is called a Radiologist. This includes technologies like X-ray, computerized tomography (CT) scans and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The regular screening mammography and any other diagnostic mammography will be performed by an X-ray technician. A radiologist is a person that interprets the results from imaging tests and uses them to confirm the presence of cancer or other diseases. Your oncologist and radiologist may consult each other to find the best course of treatment for you. 

  • A Surgeon

The medical professional that performs the surgery to remove the cancerous tumour is the surgeon. The best breast cancer surgeon in Mumbai will be the one to recommend a surgeon if there is a need for lumpectomy(removal of the cancerous tumour) or mastectomy (removal of the entire breast).

  • A Radiation Oncologist

If your oncologist feels the need to include radiation therapy as a part of your cancer treatment, they will recommend you to see a radiation oncologist. A Radiation Oncologist is a radiologist who specialises in using radiation to cure cancer. 

If have a family history of breast cancer, you may want to consult a genetic counsellor. They will test for BCRA 1 and BCRA 2 gene mutations among other genes that may expose you to breast cancer. They won’t diagnose breast cancer but help you understand the risk factors and provide information to understand the risks. 

While finding the best doctor for breast cancer in India, keep in mind that you choose someone you can trust and talk to. Cancer treatment along with routine follow-up is a long process and will require you to be in contact with them for a prolonged time. So make sure that you are comfortable with your primary care doctor, surgeon and specialist.