Mater’s ‘Godfather of breast surgeons’ celebrates 40 years

For more than 40 years, Queensland women have been turning to Professor Chris Pyke at a desperate time of their lives.

More than 10,000 newly-diagnosed breast cancer patients have passed through his consulting rooms since he began practising as a breast cancer specialist in 1990s Brisbane.

Year after year, those women’s chances of beating breast cancer have steadily improved thanks to cancer treatment breakthroughs and his expertise, commitment and compassion.

It’s no wonder that his patients call him the ‘Godfather’ of breast cancer surgeons; the modest man who can work miracles against the most common women’s cancer in Australia.

Prof Pyke’s personal passion for cancer surgery stemmed from his two sisters being diagnosed with the disease.

“I started working at Mater in 1975 as a phlebotomist, and became a medical student the year after,” Prof Pyke, 66, said.

“When I think back to my ‘why’, it was because of my sisters.

“My two lovely sisters both got cancer in their 30s while I was overseas doing more training in the UK and USA.

“With no family history, one developed acute myeloid leukaemia and the other stage two breast cancer.”

He said his sisters’ had young families, both underwent approved treatment including chemotherapy, and both survived more than 20 years which allowed them to achieve many milestones, including seeing their grandchildren.

“Having said this, the toll on their families and their treatment and recurrences was enormous – hypervigilance was the norm,” he said.

“Their cancers made me keen to do research, but I was already on a pathway to surgery before they were diagnosed. I had already won my Fellowship at the Nottingham Breast Unit when my sister was diagnosed.

“If anything, their cancers, their suffering, their grace under duress, and their family support were an inspiration for me – something to hold me to account.

“I felt that I was honouring their sacrifice by helping my own patients.”

Prof Pyke’s performed his first breast surgery in 1991, his patient had breast cancer and was diagnosed during pregnancy.

“I remember that particular patient had a combined caesarean and mastectomy operation,” he said.

Professionally, Prof Pyke has been driven by the research and advancements in surgical techniques and technology over the past four decades that have seen 90 per cent of women with breast cancer having mastectomies in the 1980s decline to just 10 per cent in 2024.

“There has been a revolution in treating breast cancer,” he said.

“Both the breast conservation rate and the prophylactic mastectomy rates have increased, and the reason is gene testing.

“The BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes were discovered in the mid-90s and we now know that the carrier rate in the community is one in 300.

“We know that many asymptomatic people carry these genes, so this story isn’t quite finished yet.”

From 2010 onwards there was a widespread use of biological agents, with a drug called Herceptin.

Herceptin works against HER2-positive breast cancers by blocking the ability of the cancer cells to receive chemical signals that tell the cells to grow.

“The drug is an immune therapy, which means that when the drug attaches onto the cancer cell it is killed by your own immune system.

“Currently there is no accurate blood test for cancer recurrence. Recurrence is more common than you think. Although the cure rare for early breast cancer runs at around 90 per cent, the recurrence rate is around 20 per cent,” Prof Pyke said.

“Around half of the patients die after their recurrence, the other half remain cured.

“Early detection of recurrence might make a big difference,” he explained.

While no Queenslander has done more to support women with breast cancer than Prof Pyke, his multidisciplinary, team-focused approach has been inspirational for those he has worked alongside, and as the principal investigator on multiple Mater Research breast cancer studies he has helped further enhance the care patients receive today.

“In the last 20 years, the emergence of multidisciplinary care for all cancer groups has mandated that multidisciplinary team meetings occur multiple times per week for the sequencing and extent of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy for each patient,” he said.

Prof Pyke, who treats about 300 new breast cancer patients each year, is a firm believer that “no one can underestimate the value of a woman’s health”.

“Women are the glue of our society, they have many roles. To be able to get them back up and functioning, and working, is a great achievement,” he said.

Mater Private Hospital Brisbane, was internationally accredited as a Centre of Excellence for breast cancer care last year, said Prof Pyke said.

For many of Prof Pyke’s patients, he has been the person they can always count on.

At just 27 years of age, Brisbane nurse Amy Gibbs found a lump in her breast and was diagnosed with Triple Negative Breast Cancer—one of the most aggressive types of breast cancer. 

Now, almost five years since her diagnosis, the Mater Private Hospital clinical nurse is pregnant with her second ‘miracle’ baby.

It was during her gruelling chemotherapy treatment that genetic testing revealed that Mrs Gibbs’ breast cancer had stemmed from having the BRCA Type 2 gene.

After finding out she had the BRCA gene, Mrs Gibbs, from Heathwood, encouraged her family to undergo genetic testing – and discovered that her father, brother and grandfather also carried the variant.

Mrs Gibbs, now 31, was advised by Mater Private Hospital Brisbane breast surgeon Prof Chris Pyke to begin fertility conservation treatment before starting chemotherapy and other treatments.

She underwent initial chemotherapy treatment for six months, which consisted of three months of AC therapy (a combination of two chemotherapy drugs), followed by a further three months of Taxol drug therapy.

“During these treatments I was put into medically-induced menopause to protect my ovaries and hopefully maintain function to conceive naturally,” Mrs Gibbs said.

“I also lost everything that I thought made me a woman – my long hair, beautiful eyebrows and eyelashes, but my husband told me I looked beautiful each and every day.”

Mrs Gibbs is thankful for the advice she received from Prof Pyke to preserve her fertility and said she was “very blessed” to have fallen pregnant naturally with her eldest daughter Emilia, 2, and now her second baby due in October.

“Prof Pyke pushed for me to be genetically tested, and I am forever grateful,” she said.

“It’s something I would have never considered.

“I was equipped with information to make a decision to have a bilateral mastectomy by Prof Pyke which helped alleviate the stress and anxiety of breast cancer reoccurrence for me.”

Mrs Gibbs described Prof Pyke as an “incredible man” who has not only helped her, but thousands of other Australian women.

“I was recommended to see Prof Pyke by my mum’s friend who had breast cancer.

“A lot of women wouldn’t be here today if wasn’t for Prof Pyke.”

Now in remission, Mrs Gibbs said she is “thankful to be alive”.

“I was that person who said ‘I don’t want to have kids’, but as soon as I got the news I had cancer, I felt the need to have a baby – I couldn’t leave this world without leaving a legacy behind.

“I also didn’t want to leave my husband with nothing or no one.

“I look at Emilia and she is such a blessing.”

Mrs Gibbs said the scars on her chest were a constant reminder of her battle with breast cancer, and she knows in years to come her children will start to ask questions.

“Our children will have a 50 per cent chance of inheriting the gene but we have decided to wait until they are of age to decide if they want to do the gene testing themselves,” Mrs Gibbs said.