Education Qualifications: MBBS (S'pore), MMed (Surg), FRCS (Edin), FAMS, PhD (SSHSPH, NUS)
Associate Professor Benita Tan is the chief of Breast Service and Senior Consultant in the Department of General Surgery in Sengkang General Hospital, and the current Chairman of the Division of Surgery at Sengkang General Hospital.
A/Prof Tan is also a Senior Consultant at the Department of Breast Surgery, Singapore General Hospital and Division of Surgical Oncology in National Cancer Centre, Singapore. A/Prof Benita holds concurrent appointments of Associate Professor in the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS, and Associate Professor with the Duke-NUS Medical School. She is currently serving various administrative positions in SingHealth and Sengkang General Hospital such as Member of the Academic Medicine Council for Surgery ACP, and Co-Programme Director of Associate Consultant Readiness Programme under Appointments and Development Department.
A/Prof Tan graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery in the National University of Singapore in 1995. She trained as a general surgeon, completed her Membership examination of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1999 and obtained Master of Medicine (Surgery), National University of Singapore a year after in 2000. She continued to pursue the advanced specialty training in General Surgery and was accredited as a specialist in General surgery in 2003, with the Fellowship Examinations of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (General Surgery), before sub-specializing in breast surgery in particular breast cancer surgery. She attained her Doctor of Philosophy, at Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore in 2013.
A/Prof Tan sees, manage, and provide treatment recommendations and surgical expertise for a range of breast diseases, both benign and malignant. Experienced in a wide range of breast procedures, she performs breast biopsies including vacuum assisted biopsies (VAB) and breast cancer surgeries, from breast conserving cancer surgery to mastectomies including skin-sparing, nipple sparing and endoscopic mastectomy for breast reconstruction. She works with a multi-disciplinary team including medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, pathologists, radiologists, breast cancer nurses, occupational therapists to provide our breast cancer patients a holistic and individualised care plan that they deserve.
Besides clinical excellence, A/Prof Tan enjoys teaching and shares her clinical experiences with students from the Yong Loo Lin, School of Medicine, Duke NUS Graduate Medical School, residents from the General Surgery and Family Medicine programmes as well as trainees in the Resident Nursing programme. She is also involved in a wide range of breast cancer research both clinical and translational locally and internationally, and has numerous publications in peer reviewed international journals.
Professional
Appointments and Committee Memberships:
- Senior Consultant, Department of General Surgery, Sengkang General Hospital
- Service Chief, SingHealth Duke-NUS Breast Centre, Sengkang General Hospital
- Director (Advanced Specialist Training / Fellowship), Surgery Academic Clinical Programme
- NCCS Cancer service Line Development BreastWorkgroup
- Member, Singapore Society of Oncology - Breast Cancer Group
- Member, Clinical Researcher, Asian Breast Cancer Network, Korean Breast Cancer Society
- Fellow, Chapter of General Surgeons Academy of Medicine, Singapore
- Fellow, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
Awards:
- 20 Years Long Service Award, Singhealth Services, (2017)
- 20 Years Long Service Award, Singapore General Hospital, (2016)
- Certificate of Commendation, NUH, Role Model to the Medical Class of 2013
- Service with a Heart Award, SGH, (2010, 2011, 2015)
- Singapore Totalisator Board Medical Research Fellowship, National Medical Research Council, Singapore, (2004)
Leadership
positions / roles in Education:
Research Interests: Breast Cancer Research
Selected Publications:
Differences in Survival of Women with Breast Cancer from Different Ethnic Groups in Singapore - A Population-Based Cancer Registry Study and an Institutional Based Review. BKT Tan, Lim GH, Tan PH, Yap YS, Chia KS. Journal of Cancer Biology and Research 2015; 3(3):1067-N.A. (Article; e-Published Ahead of Print).
Corrigendum: Frequent somatic transfer of mitochondrial DNA into the nuclear genome of human cancer cells. Ju Yong Seok; Tubio Jose M C; Mifsuf William; Fu Beiyuan; Davies Helen R; Ramakrishna Manasa; Li Yilong; Yates Lucy; Gundem Gunes; Tarpey Patrick S; Behjati Sam; Papaemmanuil Elli; Martin Sancha; Fullam Anthony; Gerstung Moritz; Nangalia Jyoti; Green Anthony R; Caldas Carlos; Borg Ake; Tutt Andrew; Lee Ming Ta Michael; Van't Veer Laura J; Tan Benita K T; Aparicio Samuel; Span Paul N; Martens John W M; Knappskog Stian; Vincent-Salomon Anne; Borresen-Dale Anne-Lise; Eyfjord Jorunn Erla; Myklebost Ola; Flanagan Adrienne M; Foster Christopher; Neal David E; Cooper Colin; Eeles Rosalind; Bova G Steven; Lakhani Sunil R; Desmedt Christine; Thomas Gilles; Richardson Andrea L; Purdie Colin A; Thompson Alastair M; McDermott Ultan; Yang Fengtang; Nik-Zainal Serena; Campbell Peter J; Stratton Michael R. Genome research 2016; 26(5):N.A.-N.A. (Article; Published in Print).
Sarcoma of the breast: an update on a rare entity. Lim Sue Zann; Ong Kong Wee; Tan Benita Kiat Tee; Selvarajan Sathiyamoorthy; Tan Puay Hoon. Journal of Clinical Pathology 2016; 69(5):373-381 (Article; e-Published Ahead of Print).
The curious incident of 3 melanomas and their possible origins - A case report and review of literature. Sin Eliza I-Lin; Tan Benita Kiat Tee; Lau Kah Weng; Teo Melissa Ching-Ching. International Journal of Surgery case reports 2016; 23():77-81 (Article; e-Published Ahead of Print).
An Unusual Case of Small Bowel Obstruction in an Elderly Woman. Tan Hwee Leong; Tan Benita K T; Lee Ser Yee. Gastroenterology 2016; 150(7):e3-04 (Article; e-Published Ahead of Print).
MR. Somatic mutations reveal asymmetric cellular dynamics in the early human embryo. Ju YS, Martincorena I, Gerstung M, Petljak M, Alexandrov LB, Rahbari R, Wedge DC, Davies HR, Ramakrishna M, Fullam A, Martin S, Alder C, Patel N, Gamble S, O'Meara S, Giri DD, Sauer T, Pinder SE, Purdie CA, Borg A, Stunnenberg H, van de Vijver M, Tan BK, Caldas C, Tutt A, Ueno NT, van't Veer LJ, Martens JW, Sotiriou C, Knappskog S, Span PN, Lakhani SR, Eyfjord JE, Borresen-Dale AL, Richardson A, Thompson AM, Viari A, Hurles ME, Nik-Zainal S, Campbell PJ, Stratton. Nature 2017 Mar 30;543(7647):714-718. doi: 10.1038/nature21703. Epub 2017 Mar 22. PMID: 28329761.
Surgery for early breast cancer in the extremely elderly leads to improved outcomes - An Asian population study. Chee Meng Lee, Huili Zheng Veronique Kiak-Mien Tan, Tira Jing-Ying Tan, Ravindran Kanesvaran, Fuh-Yong Wong, Yi Rong Sim, Wei Sean Yong, Preetha Madhukumar, Kong Wee Ong, Benita Kiat-Tee Tan. The Breast 36 (2017) 44-48. 2017 Sep (Article; e-Published Ahead of Print).
Pseudoaneurysm After Vacuum-Assisted Breast Biopsy Treated with Percutaneous Thrombin Injection. The Breast Journal (accepted).
Surgery for early breast cancer in the extremely elderly leads to improved outcomes - An Asian population study. Chee Meng Lee, Huili Zheng Veronique Kiak-Mien Tan, Tira Jing-Ying Tan, Ravindran Kanesvaran, Fuh-Yong Wong, Yi Rong Sim, Wei Sean Yong, Preetha Madhukumar, Kong Wee Ong, Benita Kiat-Tee Tan. The Breast 36 (2017) 44-48. 2017 Sep (Article; e-Published Ahead of Print).
Pseudoaneurysm After Vacuum-Assisted Breast Biopsy Treated with Percutaneous Thrombin Injection. The Breast Journal (accepted).