SINGAPORE – When a breast cancer patient saw a photo of the mastectomy scar she would have after surgery, the 50-something woman was so distressed that she almost fainted, recalls oncoplastic breast surgeon Lim Geok Hoon.

Why was the scar so long? Could her nipples be preserved without having to go through breast reconstruction?

That anguished response inspired Lim to develop the minimal scar mastectomy technique in March 2017.

Suitable for women with smaller breasts who do not want their breast tissue reconstructed, the technique produces a less visible scar around the areolas, which are preserved along with the nipples.

Preserving the nipple improves cosmetic results, she adds.

“She was very happy with the result,” says Lim, 50, an associate professor who is head and senior consultant of the KK Breast Department at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH).

More than 30 eligible patients have benefited from the technique to date.

That technique is just one of several innovations Lim has pioneered in her 15-year career as a surgeon.

She organised the first Singapore Breast Oncoplastic Surgery Symposium in January 2015 while about six months pregnant with her second son. The pregnancy had been a trying one with nausea and vomiting until her second trimester, but she pressed on.

What drove her was a passion to share what she had learnt during a year-long fellowship in Britain from 2013 to 2014 at St Bartholomew’s Hospital and The Royal Marsden Hospital.

There, she refined her skills in oncoplastic surgery, which allows for larger tumours to be removed without a mastectomy, while ensuring a better cosmetic outcome using plastic surgery techniques.

“I learnt a lot and wanted to bring the knowledge back to share with other people,” she says.

Her husband, a radiologist in his 50s at a...