Our breast clinic provides a responsive diagnostic and treatment service with diagnosis at the first outpatient visit and seamless onward care. This service is achieved by a multidisciplinary approach between pathology, radiology, surgery, medical oncology and radiotherapy, including care throughout from specialist breast cancer nurses.
We offer all aspects of surgical care including onco-plastic surgical approaches for breast conservation and immediate and delayed breast reconstruction. We use the sentinel node approach to minimize adverse effects which women can experience after more extensive axillary surgery.
We see both men and women with breast disease. These include both benign and malignant conditions of the male and female breast.
We treat more than 150 women from the local area with breast cancer each year as well as patients diagnosed elsewhere, but referred for their treatment at UCLH. We see many more patients with benign breast conditions such as fibroadenomata, breast cysts and breast infections. We see the majority of new patients within ten days of receipt of their referral, which exceeds the Government's two-week target.
Breast pain is not a common symptom of breast cancer. For this reason, we run a weekly breast pain clinic for patients experiencing breast pain. You should be offered an appointment within 28 days of your GP referral.
During the clinic, you will be seen by one of our specialist breast care nurses, who will:
- Take a detailed family history to assess breast cancer risk
- Provide reassurance and information about breast pain
- Discuss possible treatment options to help manage symptoms
If, at any point during your assessment, there is a concern about an increased risk of cancer, the nurse will arrange a referral to our suspected cancer clinic.
Patient contact
General enquiries
University College Hospital
Macmillan Cancer Centre
2nd floor North,
250 Euston Road,
London, NW1 2PG
A clinical nurse specialist will always be present when a patient is told of a diagnosis of breast cancer. This breast cancer nurse will be their key worker throughout their treatment programme. They will be able to provide rapid access to services and provide practical and psychological support both to the patient and their relatives.
All patients continue to have rapid access to the clinical nurse specialists whilst under the care of the breast Unit.
All patients will have an individualized care plan folllowing their surgical treatment.
Post-operative patients are initially seen 7-10 days after their surgery to discuss the pathology results upon which their treatment plan will depend.
All patients who have undergone surgery are discussed in the weekly multidisciplinary team meeting and are seen by the oncology teams where this is appropriate.
We provide full access to ancillary services such as physiotherapy and dietetics.