Cabrini honours breast cancer surgeon’s 50-year career

Cabrini’s Dr Jenny Senior OAM is one of Melbourne’s most skilled and respected breast surgeons. She has saved countless lives and touched many more with her compassionate and engaging approach to treating patients.

“I just knew from her energy the minute I met her that she was going to look after me,” said patient Carlie Merenda, during a recent interview with The Herald Sun’s V Weekend magazine.

“Everyone’s a VIP with Jenny,” said Ms Merenda. “The care that comes every step of the way… the patience, the complete trust, and her support of you when you’re facing something so sad and have incredibly difficult life-changing decisions to make.”

Ms Merenda is Jenny Senior’s last case, as she retires from her private practice this month. Her sentiments are shared by many other women, not least her most famous patient – Kylie Minogue – who recently spoke out to applaud Jenny’s career exactly 20 years since she performed her lumpectomy at Cabrini Malvern, in 2005.

“I witnessed, firsthand, Jenny’s dedication to her work and her patients,” Ms Minogue told the Herald Sun. “Her level of care and empathy always present and helping people through very difficult times.”

It’s the resilience of women that has inspired Dr Senior throughout her career. “I’ve just been so humbled every day,” said Dr Senior. “I’m forever learning about how people deal with adversity. I feel so privileged by what I’m told by patients.”

Despite treating one of Melbourne’s most well-known breast cancer cases, Dr Senior has always shied away from media. “I did a press conference post Kylie’s surgery outside the hospital, but that was it.

“Kylie was just one of many patients, but she was wonderful, and so I’m thankful for her as she really inspired thousands more women to get screening done,” she said.

Early dreams

Dr Senior knew she wanted to be a doctor at just four years old. So, with her family in full support of her following her dreams, she began training at Monash University School of Medicine in 1974 and graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor or Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery. She trained at the Prince Henry Hospital and in her early career during the 1980s, she also worked with BreastScreen Victoria.

In a full-circle moment, Dr Senior will soon be returning to Monash with BreastScreen Victoria, where she will collaborate with other physicians to review and advise on patient scans.

“Women need not be scared – survival rates have dramatically improved and there is so much hope for them,” said Dr Senior.

“I believe here in Australia we can access the world’s best healthcare and when it comes to breast cancer – early detection is key. I encourage women to keep checking themselves at least once a month.

“Unfortunately, I’ve seen too many women – especially those under 50 – who have just felt ‘something wasn’t right’ and had to push very hard with their doctors to get the level of screening they needed.

“You only have to look at the data to realise the age for diagnosis is getting younger, so we need to take these women seriously, to give us the best chance of catching the disease early.

“The most difficult times in my career have been the mother and daughter patients, especially in the early days before we had so much genetic testing.

“I’ve been lucky to experience so many advances in technology and research that have been the major contributor to the survival rate dramatically improving,” said Dr Senior.

“There have also been huge leaps with reconstruction surgery,” she explained, as she described the important relationship she has with Cabrini’s plastic surgeons.

“Having a bilateral mastectomy can be a very tough and emotional decision for women, but they are feeling confident to have more radical surgery because of the amazing work that can be done to reconstruct the breast. It’s been a comfort to many of my patients,” she said.

OAM recipient

Dr Senior was awarded an OAM in 2023 for her service to Medicine.

Commenting on her 25-year tenure with Cabrini, Dr Senior applauds the outstanding breast cancer care team and researchers who continually collaborate to improve patient outcomes.

“We have weekly multidisciplinary meetings between surgeons, oncologists, radiologists, pathology and researchers. Everyone supports each other for the benefit of all our individual patients.

“The radiologists have always been so readily available to discuss patients with me, I’ve always liked to call patients as soon as their results are back to avoid that horrible waiting game.

“I’m leaving the community in great hands at Cabrini, the quality of our breast cancer team is just incredible,” said Dr Senior.

Cabrini is a CHA Member