The first medical mall in the Philippines is here. And you’ll find it right in the heart of Makati.

 

It all started six years ago when Jose E.B. Antonio, Chairman and CEO of Century Properties, cooked up the idea of providing world-class outpatient care in the Philippines. He was banking on his company’s proven track record of building firstrate medical arts buildings. He was also driven by his desire to boost the country’s enormous medical tourism potential. This sound vision saw its manifestation in the 28-storey, 500-clinic Centuria Medical Makati.

 

 

Beyond the magnificent architecture and plush interiors, you get world-class outpatient experience, with a professional concierge team waiting to greet you and offer a choice of well-credentialed medical care providers.

 

Centuria Medical Makati brings you the best medical practitioners under one roof. Sharing the same vision of delivering the best tertiary care for Filipinos and foreign patients, they’ve put up the Centers of Excellence which brings together the best equipment, technology and minds in one building.

 

Cutting-edge Breast Cancer Treatments at Asian Breast Center

 

I was one of the bloggers who were invited to take part in the unveiling of the first medical mall in the country. There were a number of talks delivered at the event. One that particularly struck me was the presentation offered by Dr. Norman San Agustin, president and CEO of the Asian Breast Center at Centuria Medical Makati.

 

I was surprised to learn that the Philippines has the highest breast cancer incident rate in Asia. Worse, many of these incidents are mishandled. Most affected people don’t even get any treatment at all!

 

“One out of eight women in the US develop breast cancer while here in the Philippines, it’s one out of four. In the US, only 10% die from breast cancer while 50% dies of the disease in our country. Hundred percent of them gets treated in the US while 70% dies without treatment here,” said Dr. Agustin.

 

Advanced treatments for breast cancer are readily available in many countries. This is not the case here in the Philippines. The lack of access to proper care, coupled with misconceptions about the disease, has led many cancer patients to just have their entire breasts removed. Unnecessarily so. This has prompted Dr. San Agustin to put up the Asian Breast Center, where they offer the world’s best facilities for breast cancer treatment.

 

 

“Early detection saves life. I found out that the treatment for breast cancer here in the Philippines is mostly taking out the whole breast. In the United States, it is the opposite. About 90% of the treatment entails preserving the breast through breast conserving therapy,” said Dr. San Agustin.

 

At the event, Dr. San Agustin bemoaned the mistreatments that had caused unnecessary sufferings among cancer patients. He also expressed his understanding of the importance of the breasts’ aesthetic integrity to women. The treatments they offer endeavor to be the least invasive possible. When necessary, they make cuts only in areas that are the least visible. They even have a treatment that includes a method where the tummy is tucked in. Yes, the ladies come out of it looking a little fitter (and sexier) than before!

 

“We have very good physicians in the Philippines but we lack the place that provides cutting-edge technologies and facilities. And that’s what we provide here,” Dr. Agustin stresses.

 

“The doctors at this center are established names who work for top hospitals in the United States, and like me, they believe in giving more options to people suffering from this illness,” he adds.

 

Dr. Norman San Agustin is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and the president and founder of Morristown Surgical Associates, one of the top medical institutions in the United States.

 

Advanced Treatments

 

Molecular Breast Imaging

 

Filipinos, just as most other Asians, are likely to have ‘dense breasts’. This means their breasts are likely to have more non-fatty tissue. The problem is twofold for people with dense breasts. First, they are 4-5 times more likely to get breast cancer. Second, proper diagnosis when they do get the cancer becomes more difficult. This is because normal dense tissue and malignant masses appear white on a mammogram. Mammography is the usual procedure for detecting breast cancer,

 

This is where Molecular Breast Imaging comes in handy. It is a new nuclear medicine technique that makes tumor cells highly visible with a special camera. It’s a real breakthrough, and a first in the Philippines.

 

Breast cancer is curable. And proper diagnosis can do wonders!

 

Intraoperative Radiation Therapy

 

Another first in the Philippines, Intraoperative Radiation Therapy (IORT) is an innovative radiation treatment that delivers a single dose of Radiation immediately after lumpectomy. This is done for 25-30 minutes and while the patient is asleep. The treatment is in stark contrast with the usual tedious Radiation procedure, which requires 33 treatments delivered on a daily basis a few weeks after the surgery. Beyond just the convenience, IORT allows cancer patients to avoid total mastectomy, or the removal of the entire breast.

 

An Advocacy

 

Beyond just an advanced center for breast cancer treatment, the Asia Breast Center is a Profit-for-Charity. It is an advocacy.

 

“If I put up a clinic here and it’s for charity, how many patients will I get to see in a day, in a month, in a year? Surely, a lot. What we develop here in Asian Breast Center is a different form of Profit-for-Charity. All the money that we will make — the profit — will go to a foundation that supports awareness and advanced breast cancer treatments,” Dr. San Agustin shares.

 

“Our vision is to help everybody, not just the poor. We provide the same care and treatment to everyone–no matter who they are or what country they came from.”

 

Other Establishments at the Centuria Medical Makati

 

Advanced Lab Solutions by Hi-Precision

The Executive Screening Center

Urgent Care Clinic

Peregrine Eye and Laser Institute

The Surgery Center

ENT Specialists & Hearing Center

Alpha Chiropractic

NEU Advanced Aesthetics Centre

ProHealth Sports & Spinal Physiotherapy Centres

Center for Functional Medicine

Pinnacle Performance Fitness Centre and Gym

 

For more information, you may contact Centuria Medical Makati’s Concierge Desk at phone number (02) 793 8606, or email ask@centuriamedical.com.ph.

They’re located at Century City Kalayaan Ave. cor. Salamanca St., Brgy, Makati, Metro Manila.