Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of malignant breast tumours.
A mammologist is a specialist who examines and treats diseases of the mammary glands. His patients are women suffering from mastitis, mastopathy, benign and malignant tumours.
Another important task of a mammologist is preventive examinations, which should be carried out once a year. In this case, the mammologist's task is to detect the smallest symptoms of pathology that are not noticed by the woman herself.
A consultation with a mammologist is necessary for women who have detected the following signs of the disease:
unclear lumps in the breast tissue;
painfulness during palpation;
milk retention in new mothers;
cracks in the nipple;
discharge from the nipple outside the lactation period;
swelling and redness;
breast asymmetry;
swollen axillary lymph nodes;
deformation of the areola.
Alexander Zavoloka
- 1993-1999 - Odesa State Medical University, School of Medicine
- 1999-2001 - internship in the speciality: surgeon at the Department of General Surgery of the VSMU
- 2001-2021:
- Since 2001, he has worked for 20 years in Oncological Surgery and Oncology at the Odesa Regional Oncological Dispensary and Medical University Clinic.
- Since 2010, the highest qualification category has been in Oncological Surgery.
- Since 2012, he has been a member of ESMO (European Society of Medical Oncology).
- Since 2014, she has been a member of EUSOMA (European Union of Breast Cancer Specialists).
- In 2014, he defended his dissertation for the degree of Candidate of Medical Sciences.
Work experience
- 2009, 2013 - internship at the Republican Clinical Oncological Dispensary of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Tatarstan (Kazan)
- 2016 - internship at the National Institute of Surgery and Transplantation named after A.A. Shalimov (Kyiv)
- 2016, 2021 - internship at the Israeli clinic LISOD (Kyiv)
- 2011-2018 - assistant of the Department of Oncology, ONMedU
- 2013-2018 - chief freelance oncologist of the Health Department of the Odesa City Council
- 2018 - internship at the European Institute of Oncology (Milan)
- 2019 - internship at the National Institute of Oncology (Budapest)
- 2005-2010 and 2018-2020 - Head of the Mammology Centre, Mammology Department of the Oncology Clinic
- 2018 - for the first time in the region, he introduced the method of removing the sentinel lymph node in the surgical treatment of breast cancer and melanoma (using the radiopharmaceutical technetium 99mTc)
The doctor specialises in the following areas:
Diagnosis and treatment of benign breast diseases (dysplasia, cysts, fibroadenomas, haematomas, papillomas).
Diagnostics and surgical treatment of breast cancer (organ-preserving surgery, oncoplastic lumpectomy, reconstructive surgery after mastectomy).
Removal of the sentinel lymph node in the surgical treatment of breast cancer and melanoma (using the 99mTc technique).
Diagnosis and treatment of benign and malignant skin tumours (papilloma, cancer, melanoma).
Plastic surgery on the mammary glands (augmentation, lifting, symmetrical surgery).
Diagnosis and treatment of gynaecomastia and breast cancer in men.
Work examples
Diagnosis of breast diseases
Consultation with a mammologist. Includes medical history, examination and palpation.
Ultrasound examination of the mammary glands and axillary lymph nodes.
Mammography. Women over 40 are recommended to undergo mammography once every 1-2 years.
Duktography is a mammography with contrast of the mammary ducts. It is used for certain indications to detect intraductal neoplasms of the breast.
Ultrasonography of the mammary glands. An innovative diagnostic method that allows the doctor to assess the structure of the organ tissue and detect pathological changes at the early stages of development.
Morphological diagnostics. The study of the cellular and tissue composition of the tumour obtained during a fine-needle aspiration, CORE biopsy or open biopsy. This method allows you to make a final diagnosis and prescribe the necessary treatment.
Diagnosis of breast cancer predisposition
Molecular genetic diagnostics. Examination of tumour tissue, blood or saliva for the presence of BRCA1 and 2 gene mutations. If a mutation of this gene is detected, the risk of breast and/or ovarian cancer increases dramatically.
Collection of family cancer history (the presence of relatives who have suffered from cancer).
Presence of other risk factors (female gender, age over 40, abortion, lack of childbirth and breastfeeding, injuries, obesity, smoking, etc.)