Kefah Mokbel: Consultant Oncoplastic Breast Surgeon in London

Expertise

Professor Kefah Mokbel is a Consultant Oncoplastic Breast Surgeon and the Lead Surgeon at the London Breast Institute of The Princess Grace Hospital, London, Honorary Consultant Breast Surgeon at St George’s Hospital NHS Trust, London, Professor of Breast Cancer Surgery at Brunel University, London and President of the charity, Breast Cancer Hope. He is also Chair of the Multidisciplinary Breast Cancer Program at The London Breast Institute.

A highly respected breast cancer surgeon, Professor Mokbel was named in Tatler magazine’s Best Doctors Guide as one of the featured ‘Top Breast Surgeons’ in 2006 and 2007 and was named in the Times magazine’s list of Britain’s Top Doctors in 2010.

Training and experience

Professor Mokbel graduated in medicine from the University of London in 1990. During his undergraduate training at The London Hospital Medical College, he was awarded a number of prestigious prizes. He qualified as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS, England) in 1994 and was granted the Master of Surgery degree in 2000 by The Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine for his research in the field of molecular biology of breast cancer. Following this specialist accreditation, he was appointed as a substantive Consultant Breast Surgeon to St George’s Hospital, and as an Honorary Senior Lecturer in Surgery.

In 2002, Professor Mokbel was appointed a Professor at The Brunel Institute of Cancer Genetics and Pharmacogenomics at Brunel University in London in recognition of his contribution to breast cancer research. In 2005, he was appointed as a Reader in Breast Surgery at St George’s University of London.

In addition to his expertise in breast cancer surgery, Professor Mokbel is the founding president of Breast Cancer Hope, a UK-based charity aimed at improving the quantity and quality of life in women with breast cancer.

He is a member of the editorial board of several international medical journals and a member of the medical advisory committee at the Princess Grace Hospital. The current chairman of the breast multidisciplinary team of the London Breast Institute, Professor Mokbel is also a member of the medical advisory board of several biotechnology companies including Everything Genetic, Myriad Genetics and Q Medical Technologies.

Specialises in

• Assessment and management of breast lumps and nipple discharge
• Assessment of breast cancer risk and genetic testing
• Cosmetic breast surgery
• Hormone replacement therapy and the breast
• Management of breast pain
• Management of mastitis and breastfeeding problems
• Minimally invasive breast surgery
• Oncoplastic breast surgery
• Personalised breast cancer treatment
• Personalised breast cancer screening tailored to risk

Breast treatments and services

Professor Mokbel’s clinical interests in the field of breast surgery include early detection of breast cancer, breast ductoscopy, minimally-invasive breast surgery, sentinel node biopsy, skin-sparing mastectomy, breast reconstruction, cosmetic breast surgery, prevention of breast cancer, genetic predisposition, integrative oncology and the management of benign conditions including breast cysts, mastalgia (breast pain) and fibroadenomas (benign breast tumours). He is highly experienced in reconstructive and aesthetic breast surgery including augmentation mammoplasty, reduction mammoplasty and mastopexy.

Breast cancer

Professor Mokbel works with a carefully selected team of radiologists, mammographers, pathologists, surgeons and oncologists at the London Breast Institute to provide accurate diagnosis and the most up-to-date treatment options for women with breast cancer, including personalised breast cancer treatment.  Where surgery is indicated, he ensures that the patient has all the information she needs to play an active role in selecting the treatment that best suits her needs, and is skilled in modern breast preserving procedures, minimally invasive and reconstructive techniques.

Breast cancer screening

Professor Mokbel provides expert assessment of breast cancer risk and genetic testing, counselling and advice for women with a strong family history of the disease. This information in then used to developed personalised breast screening programmes tailored to risk.

Breast conditions

Professor Mokbel offers assessment and management of the full range of conditions affecting the breast including breast pain, breast lumps, nipple discharge, breast cysts, and mastitis and breastfeeding problems. He also provides specialist advice and management on breast matters for women who are taking or considering taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

Cosmetic breast surgery

In addition to oncoplastic and reconstructive breast surgery, Professor Mokbel provides a full range of cosmetic procedures for the breast including breast augmentation, breast reduction, breast lift and gynecomastia surgery.

Specialist Second Opinion service

Professor Mokbel is available to provide a specialist second opinion on a named patient basis. Patients wishing to access the service are required to provide comprehensive information on all investigations and treatments provided to date.

Research interests

Professor Mokbel's main research interest lies in the field of molecular biology and the clinical management of breast cancer. His prolific research input includes over 350 published papers on aesthetic breast surgery including breast reconstruction following mastectomy and augmentation mammoplasty using implants and fat transfer in medical literature. On Google Scholar he has been cited more than 7000 times with an H-index of 47 and i10-index of 158. He has also written 14 books in various disciplines including surgery, oncology, breast cancer and postgraduate medical education and is a member of the editorial board of several international medical journals.

He was the first researcher to make a connection between the SET domain containing protein 2 (SETD2) gene and human breast cancer and is on the editorial board of and peer reviews several international journals.

Professor Mokbel has supervised a significant number of higher postgraduate degrees in the field of breast cancer, including PhD, MSc, MD and Master of Surgery degrees.

Professor Mokbel and his team reported in 2017 that the use of hair dye could be associated with a 20% increase in breast cancer risk, and in 2018 that the use of testosterone gel might not increase breast cancer risk among women.

In the media

Professor Mokbel has been widely featured in the press by various news sources such as The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Daily Mail, New York Post, The BBC, ITV, NBC Washington, Hello Magazine, ABC News, MSN, Yahoo, The Daily Express, The Independent, The Medical Daily, The Evening Standard, The Mirror, Marie Claire and British Sky Broadcasting.

He also appeared on BBC World News in 2013 discussing Angelina Jolie's preventative double masectomy. 

He was depicted in the BBC drama 'The C Word' which followed his real-life patient Lisa Lynch's breast cancer journey.

Here are some of the most recent articles Professor Mokbel has been featured in:

• New breast cancer care 'may save 500 lives a year' as study of 185,000 patients reveals that the chance of death could be cut by 33 per cent
• Hair dye in breast cancer warning
• Top surgeon calls for ALL women to be given Vitamin D to cut breast cancer... as ballet dancers reveal they use pills to keep them strong
• Top surgeon warns lapses in breast cancer screening are costing hundreds of lives a year
• Revealed: How spas turn away patients most in need of a healing hand
• Testosterone gel is safe for women with a low sex drive, experts say
• The under-the-SKIN bra: Op stops sagging - using cups and straps screwed into a woman's ribs
• Mammograms for 40-somethings 'would save 1,000 a year'
• Turning DOWN radiation levels during normal radiotherapy treatment sparks a 'seek and destroy' mission by body's immune system to target cancer cells
• Stem cell therapy 'could offer women natural breast enhancement from stomach fat'
• Breast cancer test to spare thousands from chemotherapy: Pioneering treatment to be available on the NHS from April
• Leading British surgeon tells ministers vaping ‘epidemic’ among teenage girls could lead to breast cancer later in life and children should not be allowed to believe they are safe