“There’s a budding breast cancer program here, and (we) didn’t really have a dedicated plastic surgeon, and I offered my services to sort of better serve the community and allow the full gamut of reconstructive options for those patients,” Markov said.
The plastic surgeon said that Dr. Colleen Alexander, a general surgeon and the breast cancer program lead, will be able to see more patients and direct them to local reconstruction options. Markov said this current team will lead to an expansion of reconstruction care.
“With access to care locally, it will organically slowly build over time,” Markov said.
According to the Ohio Department of Health, Clark County has a higher rate of cancer cases and deaths than both the state and the U.S. In Clark County, breast cancer makes up more than 15% of new cancer cases, according to data from 2014-2018.
Alexander said she is very excited to have Markov in the area so that patients no longer have to drive elsewhere to get this type of care.
Markov said there are a variety of reconstructive options like using implants or transplanting the patient’s own tissue from another area of their body. He said a lot of surgeons only offer implants so patients are “told what they should get” rather than being able to make their own decisions.
Reconstruction with a patient’s own tissue is newer and “a little more intricate,” Markov said.
“So in theory, it’s longer lasting once you heal everything,” Markov said. “You don’t need to screen it. You don’t need to manage it because it’s your own tissue and it kind of grows and becomes part of you for life.”
Reconstruction can become an option after a mastectomy or in the case of breast conservation, which Markov said is rearranging breast tissue in a way that does not leave the patient with a deformity after completing cancer treatments.
Alexander said that there are numerous organizations, supported by the hospital, involved in encouraging regular cancer screenings. Mercy Health has also held multiple breast cancer awareness events this month, with October being breast cancer awareness month.
Ben Merick, vice president of operations at the hospital, said that Mercy Health has a relationship with Ohio State University’s James Cancer Hospital and there are plans to have a comprehensive breast center inside of Mercy Health’s cancer center, hopefully in 2024. In January, oncology surgeon Thomas Reid will join the hospital part-time.
“A huge part of this work is catching cancer earlier,” Merick said. “Since the pandemic, it’s been well documented nationally that screening for breast cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer or skin cancer is way down, and we’re definitely seeing the result of a couple of years of folks not doing their preventative medicine, where they’re showing up with further progressed cancer, which is horrible for everybody.”
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