எங்க கிளினிக்ல கொலு…

இம்முறை இ-கொலு என்பதால் அளவாய் நான்கு பொம்மைகள்!!
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Expanded our services @ Chennai Breast Services
At CBC we have now commenced operating in the new premises just adjacent to the clinic!!
Sometimes high & sometimes very low
Like the mountains and valleys
Sometimes smooth and sometimes really rough
Like the treading terrains
Every day we experienced & enjoyed
Moved forward to fulfill the dreams

The previous night we all stayed at the clinic and made sure everything’s set. Of course, we had our fun & chuckles too!!
Early morning

This herculean task was possible only because of

Uma & Jhansi
‘Sweat & toil; but we won’t rest or give up’ was their mantra through this period. Hats off to you girls!! You made it!!
These two were supported by the other two pillars Kavitha & Hema. Prabha, Priya, Vasanthi, Sandhya and Guru Anna were there always to pitch in and help. Loads of hugs!!
Making the whole thing possible with their love, care, guidance and செல்லமான திட்டுக்கள் was Dr. Selvi’s parents. உங்களிடமிருந்து கற்றுக்கொள்ள கடல் அளவு வாழ்க்கைக் கல்வி உண்டு. கைகூப்பி நன்றி கூறுகிறோம்.
In the New Year we will be more equipped!!
And with every step we realize “Your wishes have always been with us…” Thanks to all our supporters and well wishers.
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Happy Birthday

It was very late in the evening. The girls did not leave the clinic till Dr. Selvi and Dr. Asha returned. They gave Dr. Selvi a surprise!! Voila…a happy happy birthday cake and a song…
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Engal Utsav 2021


This year too we had our Engal Utsav online.
Not an mm we allow this no-eyeball-meet situation to bring our enthusiasm down. This time all of us decked with tiaras and crowns sang and danced!!
Danced? How’zzz that even possible when the meeting is online? மனமிருந்தால் மார்க்கமுண்டு!
We had songs in different languages from different parts of India.
Aarti & Nandita shared a burrito bowl...



I mean they shared the recipe with real time demo. I am sure this might have solved the dilemma of many which has been ‘What to cook? How can I make it a balanced diet loaded with nutrition without compromising the taste?’ All answered in one shot.
Four resource persons from different sections of the medical field took their valuable time and shared their expertise on different topics.
Dr. Praveena spoke on Pain management after Breast Cancer Treatments in Ayurveda
Dr. Hemamala explained all about Fatty Liver, prevention & precautions
Ms. Mythili Srivatsan, (Nutrition coach & Yoga Trainer) demonstrated how one can intersperse Exercises even when one is busy
Dr. Abirami Rameshbabu, Physiotherapist elucidated about Frozen Shoulders
There were technical glitches during the programme. But நாம எல்லாம் மடைதிறந்து பாயும் நதி அலைகள் அல்லவா?!!
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Thank You!
Some of you may remember the bags used for carrying the drains after mastectomy. October being breast cancer awareness month Dr. Poornima’s daughter Ms. Sneha, a designer, gifted these bags. Team CBC thanks her for such a thoughtful gesture.

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From the Trustees of Sharana Breast Cancer Relief & Research Foundation
Sharana Breast Cancer Relief and Research Foundation is a non-profitable, charitable, non-governmental organization, set up in 2009 which aims to assist women during a very difficult phase of life that is when faced with the diagnosis of breast cancer. The trust helps diagnose, treat and support breast cancer patients.
Trust Activities
Sharana trust is involved in various patient care activities like: counselling, patient support groups, supporting genetic testing, surgical treatment, assisting with targeted treatment, conducting awareness programs and training medical and para medical staff in various aspects of breast disease diagnosis and management.
- Breast Cancer awareness programmes: Early detection leads to catching the disease which would mostly be at the treatable stage. Under Sharana trust Breast Cancer awareness programmes are conducted through the year. Early detection, expert medical team and state-of-the-art treatment facilities at Chennai Breast Centre aids patients to experience better outcomes.
- Surgery & Treatments: Over 110 surgeries have been done free of cost for economically weaker women with breast cancer. Mammography, Clinical breast examination, required tests, Surgery, Chemotherapy, providing post-surgery Kit, Radiotherapy, Harmone therapy – the costs of these are funded by bequests by kind hearted people. For 90% of the patients seeking help from Sharana Dr. Selvi Radhakrishna has waived her surgeon’s fee completely and for the rest a small percentage is only charged.
- Genetic testing: Genetic testing for 46 triple negative patients were done from the trust.
- Patient Navigators: An active group of cancer survivors trained by Dr. Selvi help in giving tips on how to cope up with the treatment focusing on the emotional side and clarify any doubt. There is also an online group with a dedicated coordinator from the trust for further assistance during and after the treatment.
- Regular follow-up: The team also ensures that the patients come back for their reviews and check-ups regularly.
- Support Group: A robust support system through monthly meetings is in place where panel discussions and talks are held to dispel doubts, alleviate fears of breast cancer and encourage positive attitude cum activities towards quality life after treatments.
- Prosthesis: A group of volunteers knit and provide cotton prostheses for the patients immediately after the surgery through the trust. This provides the confidence to deal with the loss.
- Counselling: Both patients and the caregivers are counselled, empowered with tips for coping with self-esteem during the shocking emotional stress.
- Training: Training programmes and workshops for radiology and surgery have been regularly conducted by Dr. Selvi Radhakrishna.
- Tissue Banking & Diagnostic Pathology: One of the main aims of the Sharana trust is to spearhead research in breast diseases. The incidence of breast cancer is expected to rise to 35 per 100000 women. We derive all treatment plans from the research happening in west whose cancer we know is genetically different from ours. The main hindrances for research in India is the availability of fresh frozen tissues which is needed for DNA and mRNA extraction from tumor. Ethics Committee has approved the Breast Cancer BioBank project.
Our steps towards progress:
We have procured the following to achieve our vision to create a bio repository exclusively of breast tissue including tumor and non-tumor specimens, a first of its kind in South India:
- Thermo Scientific Forma -86 degrees cryostorage refrigerator for the same purpose. This bio repository can store thousands of samples of tissue which can be archived and used for any research involving breast cancer.
- Sharana trust also has a diagnostics division comprising of a full-fledged Histopathology laboratory, equipped with a state of the art Leica Cryostat CM 1520 and Leica tissue processor. The diagnostics division started in February 2021 and has processed and reported on more than 500 core needle biopsies of patients.
- The trust also stores paraffin embedded tissue blocks, archives it and uses it for research purposes. Till now we have stored more than thousand tissue blocks including tumor and non-tumor specimens exclusively from the breast. For this purpose we have procured a block storage facility which can store more than 35000 blocks. The Patient consent forms for all the archival and usage of tissue for research is in order and got diligently from every patient.
- A microtome
- A grossing station
What we require:
Targeting at giving an end to end comprehensive diagnostic workup for patients suffering from breast cancer, right now for the same purpose we are in the process of procuring an automated Immunohistochemistry staining platform Roche Ventana BMGX. The Management and research of breast cancer is largely driven by whether the cancer is hormone receptor positive or negative which needs to be determined by immunohistochemistry. We are outsourcing this test now which increases the turnaround time of the test and also the archiving of valuable information for future research is lost.
Once the pathology lab of Sharana trust becomes fully functional, we will be processing around 1000 to 1500 specimens of breast diseases every year and archiving a good number of fresh frozen and paraffin embedded blocks which is very valuable for future research in breast cancer. Since Chennai Breast Centre is a comprehensive breast clinic, all the data pertaining to disease characteristics would be available for future research with due consents by the patients.
The current need is to fetch and install IHC Ventana machine. This test is crucial to plan the treatment for every patient. This will also enable us to reduce the cost of testing by 40% for patients.
Ventana costs 38 lakhs including GST. We are falling short of 8 lakhs for the purchase of Ventana and 2 lakhs for 2 months running cost of the path lab.
We are looking for help from philanthropists to help us bridge this deficit of 8 lakhs either partially or fully. We are one of the few Trusts which clearly give you a break-up of the use of proceeds. You will know exactly how your contribution helped the community.
For details of other contributions please visit our website www.sharanatrust.org or write to us: sharanatrust@gmail.com
We believe that every woman has the right to quality breast cancer treatment, right to save her own life and enhance the quality of living. Surviving breast cancer should not depend on who you are and certainly not on your economic status in the society.
Online transfers may be made in favour of:
Bank Name : State Bank of India
Savings A/C.No. : 30462272089
IFS Code No : SBIN0011732
MICR NO : 600002154
Branch : M.R.C.Nagar
Chennai 600028
Donations are eligible for exemption from Income Tax under 80G DIT (E)No.2(719)09-10 dated 26.05.2010. The trust has 12AA & approval for registration of the entities for undertaking CSR activities.
We the trustees welcome you to join hands with us in creating a state of the art facility for breast cancer research in India.
Thanks & Regards,
The Trustees
- Selvi Radhakrishna (Founder & Managing Trustee), breast oncoplastic surgeon treating breast cancer patients for 32 years. She is the founder of Chennai Breast Centre, a comprehensive breast clinic and hospital running for the past 14 years treating over 2500 new patients with breast diseases every year.
- Venkat V Ramakrishnan is a cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgeon currently working at the regional St. Andrews Centre for Plastic Surgery and Burns in Chelmsford, Essex.
- Chandrakanth Kankaria, the director of Olympia Group Private Limited
- M C Srikanth is a practising Chartered Accountant
- Vishalla Vairavan, founder, the FANTASMO a graphic studio
- Archana Ramanakumar heads Global delivery for a large IT services firm in India
- Sridevi Subramanian, coordinator at Chennai Breast Centre