Alison is a New Zealand trained General Surgeon with post fellowship specialist training in Breast surgery at the United Kingdom’s largest Breast unit in Edinburgh. Following this she spent 18 months working as a Consultant at the Edinburgh Breast Unit. This extended to running clinics at the Scottish Breast Screening Service and managing the unit’s surgical audit.
During her time in Edinburgh, Alison was part of a large multi-disciplinary team, managing women with breast cancer. In addition to this she attended all adjuvant treatments given to women with cancer. This has given her a unique understanding and appreciation of all aspects of a woman’s treatment, allowing her to better inform and support her patients.
Alison has extensive experience with new surgical techniques and treatment approaches for women with Breast cancer.
Areas of Specialisation
Benign breast conditions
Breast screen-detected cancer surgery
Oncoplastic breast surgery and reconstruction
Sentinel node biopsy/ axillary clearance
Breast Ultrasound assisted examination and biopsy
Laparoscopic/ open hernia repair
Removal of skin and subcutaneous lesions
Alison practices at Breast Auckland, which is based at Laparoscopy Auckland, 148 Gillies Ave, Epsom, Auckland. Ph 09 623 4788, fax 09 623 6662
| Benign Breast Disease
Main Session |
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| Friday, 15 August 2014 | Start 2:00pm | Duration: 25mins | Plenary |
| Benign breast conditions are common, accounting for 90% of all breast complaints. This session will discuss common benign breast conditions and outline an approach to investigation and management of each. | |||
| Breast Cancer 101
Concurrent Workshop Repeated |
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| Friday, 15 August 2014 | Start 4:30pm | Duration: 55mins | Room 1 |
| Start 5:35pm | Duration: 55mins | Room 1 | |
| Breast cancer management has progressed rapidly over the past 25 years achieving a significant reduction in mortality. Surgery has become more individualised with an increasing emphasis on cosmesis. The development of oncoplastic techniques has allowed more options for breast conservation with better cosmesis. Improvements in reconstructive options have reduced the morbidity of autologous procedures and achieved a more natural looking breast in those having implant-based reconstruction.
Molecular profiling of tumours has facilitated development of targeted therapies and accelerated partial breast irradiation promises to shorten and target adjuvant radiation treatment. As more is learned about different tumour biology it is anticipated adjuvant treatment will be given to those who will benefit most, sparing unnecessary toxicity to those who will not. This talk will cover surgical advances in breast cancer treatment, discuss biological profiling and introduce accelerated partial breast irradiation as an adjuvant treatment option for select women with favorable tumours. |
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| All About Breasts
Practice Nurses Programme |
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| Saturday, 16 August 2014 | Start 9:30am | Duration: 60mins | Westpac |
| This talk will cover changes in the breasts throughout life and review common benign breast conditions. A brief overview of the issues surrounding breast screening will be discussed followed by an illustration of current surgical and adjuvant treatment options for breast cancer. | |||
| Modern Breast Imaging and Hereditary Breast Cancer
Concurrent Workshop Repeated |
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| Saturday, 16 August 2014 | Start 11:00am | Duration: 55mins | Room 5 |
| Start 12:05pm | Duration: 55mins | Room 5 | |
| The main proven imaging tools for breast in New Zealand include mammography, ultrasound and MRI. Mammography continues to be the mainstay of both screening and diagnostic imaging of the breast. The current debate regarding breast screening will be discussed followed by a discussion of the role of MRI in breast imaging.
This is followed by an overview of hereditary breast cancer, including who should be referred to the genetics service, what a patient can expect following this and the implications of a positive BRCA mutation result. |
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