There are some weeks in this work that feel like a turning point — and this past one was one of them. Between speaking on the mainstage at the largest annual breast surgery meeting in the country and a quiet but historic update from one of the country’s biggest insurance companies, the conversation around sensation after mastectomy has officially crossed a line it’s been edging toward for nearly a decade.

Here’s a closer look at what happened, and why it matters for patients.

ON THE MAINSTAGE AT #ASBrS2026

This past weekend, Dr. Peled was invited to speak at the American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBrS) Annual Meeting in Seattle — the largest annual gathering of breast surgeons in the country, and one of the most influential meetings in the field globally. This year’s program ran April 29 – May 3, 2026, bringing together breast surgeons, plastic surgeons, oncologists, and trainees from across the United States and around the world.

Her invited talk — Nerve Re-anastomosis for Sensation — was part of the Hoag Hospital Surgical Innovation Forum: Innovative Surgical Techniques session on Saturday, May 2 alongside talks on free-flap reconstruction, robotic mastectomy, and lympho-venous bypass. Full session details on the official ASBrS 2026 agenda: https://www.breastsurgeons.org/meeting/2026/agenda

“Standing in front of a room of breast surgeons from around the world, sharing eight years of sensation-preserving outcomes — and getting the feedback we got — that’s what tells you the conversation has actually moved.” — Dr. Anne Peled

A FULL-CIRCLE MOMENT

When Dr. Peled was diagnosed with breast cancer at 37, the prospect of losing sensation weighed heavily in her own decision-making — and ultimately shaped the direction of her career. Together with her husband, Dr. Ziv Peled, a fellowship-trained peripheral nerve surgeon, she developed a collaborative approach designed to preserve sensation during mastectomy by saving the nerves that can be safely kept and reconstructing the nerves that have to be cut.

What started as a single question — can we do better for women? — has become eight years of outcome data, three peer-reviewed publications, and an international training program for surgeons.

WHAT THE TALK COVERED

The Saturday morning talk focused on the technique itself — how nerve preservation and nerve reconstruction (nerve re-anastomosis / neurotization) are integrated into a sensation-preserving mastectomy — and the most up-to-date outcomes from the Peleds’ practice. Across their published work, including the original 2019 pilot in PRS Global Open, a larger 2022 series, and a new 2025 paper from their team, a clear pattern continues to hold:

– More than 80% of women undergoing sensation-preserving mastectomy regain sensation that is similar to what they had before surgery.

– Most describe their reconstructed breasts as feeling so natural that they sometimes forget they had a mastectomy at all.

– By comparison, fewer than 25% of women undergoing standard mastectomy ever regain even meaningful light-touch sensation in the breast or nipple.

These numbers matter — not as a marketing point, but as a baseline. They are what makes the case that sensation preservation is not a “nice extra,” but something that should be on the table for every woman considering mastectomy.

AND OTHER BIG NEWS: A LANDMARK INSURANCE WIN

If the conference highlighted how far this work has come clinically, the parallel story of the past few weeks is what’s happening outside the operating room.

Earlier this spring, Cigna quietly updated its reconstruction policy to officially cover nerve repair as part of breast reconstruction after mastectomy — codified in Cigna Coverage Policy 0178, effective April 15, 2026. With that update, every major insurance company in the United States now covers nerve repair as part of post-mastectomy reconstruction.

For context on how big a shift that is: for decades, the standard expectation after mastectomy was that you wake up, the cancer is out, and you live the rest of your life numb across your chest. Sensation was treated as elective — a “nice to have,” and almost never a covered medical need. One insurer at a time, over the last several years, that has changed. Cigna was the last major domino.

“Regaining sensation after mastectomy isn’t a minor gain. It’s how you feel a hug, how you feel safe in your own body, how you feel like yourself again. The fact that every major insurer in the country now recognizes that — it’s a win that belongs to a lot of patients, advocates, and surgeons who didn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.” — Dr. Anne Peled

 WHAT THE CIGNA UPDATE MEANS FOR PATIENTS

If you are facing a mastectomy — or you have already had one and were told nerve repair “wasn’t covered” or “wasn’t an option” — this is the moment to ask again:

– Ask your surgical team whether sensation-preserving mastectomy and/or nerve reconstruction (neurotization / Resensation) is something they offer or refer for.

– If you have Cigna insurance, the relevant policy is Coverage Policy 0178, effective April 15, 2026.

– If you have a different major insurer, ask them directly what they cover under their breast reconstruction policy — coverage is now in place across every major plan, but the language and pre-authorization pathways vary.

For patients across the country and internationally, virtual consultations are available so geography doesn’t have to be the reason this option is off your list.

TEACHING THE NEXT GENERATION OF SURGEONS

Outside of the mainstage talk, one of the most encouraging parts of the meeting was the number of surgeons asking how they can learn this technique themselves. Dr. Peled spent time educating colleagues at the Resensation and Stryker Breast Care booths in the exhibit hall — walking through the surgical technique, the published outcomes, and the practical workflow of integrating sensation preservation into a busy breast surgery practice.

Over the last several years, the Peleds have also trained surgeons across multiple countries through hands-on courses and in-practice training, most recently with surgical teams in Mexico and Denmark. The goal isn’t simply to share a technique; it’s to make sensation-preserving mastectomy the standard of care for the roughly 100,000 mastectomies performed in the United States each year — and many more globally.

A CONVERSATION WITH HANNAH STORM ABOUT DCIS

Another highlight was a sit-down conversation with ESPN’s Hannah Storm about DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ) — the early, non-invasive form of breast cancer that often raises more questions than it answers for newly diagnosed patients. Hearing Hannah share her own experience, and getting to talk through the testing, treatment, and decision-making landscape, was a powerful reminder of how much patient-facing education still matters — even for the most well-resourced and informed among us.

WHERE BREAST SURGERY IS HEADED NEXT

Beyond sensation preservation, the broader conversations at #ASBrS2026 were a snapshot of where breast cancer care is moving as a whole. A few of the sessions Dr. Peled was most energized by:

– An entire session dedicated to guiding patients at high risk or with a history of breast cancer through hormone replacement therapy decisions — a conversation that has historically been off-limits and is finally getting the nuance it deserves.

– Multi-disciplinary discussions on reducing the side effects of surgery, including the growing role of eliminating sentinel node biopsies in carefully selected patients.

– Thoughtful presentations on the evolving role of breast surgery in patients living with Stage IV breast cancer.

Each of these threads points to the same underlying shift: care that is more personalized, less invasive when it can be, and more honest about what patients can expect — physically, emotionally, and long-term.

MOVING FORWARD

There is still a lot of work ahead — more research, more training, more advocacy, and a lot of patient education to make sure no one is told “no” when the answer should be “yes.” But this past week was a reminder of how far things have come in less than a decade, and how much of that movement has come from women asking better questions, surgeons being willing to listen, and insurers finally catching up.

To learn more about sensation-preserving mastectomy, visit our dedicated procedure page (https://annepeledmd.com/sensation-preserving-mastectomies/), or reach out to our team to schedule an in-person or virtual consultation.

 INVITE DR. PELED TO SPEAK AT YOUR NEXT EVENT

Dr. Anne Peled lectures internationally on sensation-preserving mastectomy, breast cancer surgery, and breast reconstruction — for surgical societies, hospital grand rounds, patient advocacy events, industry partners, and media panels. Recent appearances include the American Society of Breast Surgeons Annual Meeting and surgical training programs in Mexico and Denmark.

To inquire about a speaking engagement, please email Dr. Peled directly at drpeled@apeledmd.com.

Email: drpeled@apeledmd.com — Subject line: “Speaking Inquiry”