Providing empathetic treatment through appearance care by paying close attention to the feelings of each patient ―Appearance Beauty Clinic ®︎ Director, Kazumi Horiguchi

I want to help people live their lives the way they want to

 Appearance Beauty Clinic^®︎

In recent years, the Japanese medical industry has begun efforts to address appearance care*¹. However, throughout Japan, we still have an insufficient awareness of appearance care while lacking enough consideration for cancer patients. Based on the concept of “beauty unique to each individual,” Appearance Beauty Clinic offers treatments, including physical and mental care for cancer patients, to help all those who are concerned about their appearance get closer to the person they want to be. We talked with the Clinic’s Director, Dr. Kazumi Horiguchi, MD, PhD, Surgeon about her thoughts on appearance care, which is attentive to the lives of each and every patient, and her future vision for the development of the medical industry.

*1: An approach taken by medical professionals to improve the quality of life of patients whose appearance changes as a result of cancer and its treatment by assessing their problems in terms of physical, psychological, and social perspectives and using medical, cosmetic, psychological, and social measures to alleviate their distress caused by changes in their appearance.

－Profile
Dr.Kazumi Horiguchi
After learning the fundamentals of surgery as a general surgeon in her home prefecture of Kumamoto, she gained field experience in the Breast Surgery Department of Tokyo Metropolitan Cancer and Infectious Diseases Center Komagome Hospital, where she treated a total of 94,000 patients and performed 8,500 surgeries. Meeting many cancer patients made her realize the importance of appearance care. Accordingly, she opened Appearance Beauty Clinic in 2020 with the desire to provide medical care that focuses on the feelings of each patient.

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－Please tell us about your career as a breast surgeon

During the clinical training in the sixth year of medical school, I experienced all departments. Then I was attracted to surgery, where I could provide further treatment in addition to the improvements made through the efforts of the patient. So, I decided to become a surgeon. For five years after graduating medical school, I worked in a medical office of the school, being busy with providing medical treatment and performing surgical operations. Subsequently, when I thought of going on to graduate school to deepen my knowledge, I was introduced to the Breast Surgery Department of Tokyo Metropolitan Cancer and Infectious Diseases Center Komagome Hospital, which offers the top level of breast surgical treatment in Japan. As I experienced cutting-edge medical treatment, I came to want to learn more in that environment. Ever since then, I have been working as a breast surgeon in Tokyo, performing a total of 94,000 outpatient consultations and approximately 8,500 surgeries. While working with many breast cancer patients, I have come to realize a very important element in cancer treatment. That is the fundamental perspective of appearance care — supporting cancer patients both physically and mentally.

－What made you realize the importance of appearance care?

One patient who had had fairly advanced cancer once said to me: “Thank you for curing my breast cancer. But you have ruined my life.”  At that time, she was finally about to proceed to a watch and wait approach. She had endured cancer treatment, including chemotherapy, a total mastectomy, and radiation therapy, and had completed long-term hormone therapy, with no recurrence. I was feeling relieved that all the treatment and the patient’s efforts had paid off. So, I was shocked by her words, as if I had been struck by lightning. The treatments caused her hair loss, darkening of the skin, and breast loss. All these are unbearable for women who want to maintain their beauty, and they might even feel that their lives have been ruined. I realized that the treatment we had been carrying out with conviction to save patients’ lives did not take into consideration their feelings and quality of life sufficiently. I was faced with the fact that if we continued treatment like that, we would not be able to bring true satisfaction to our patients. That was the moment when I decided to engage in appearance care. Appearance care is defined as “an approach taken by medical professionals to provide multidisciplinary support to patients, who are facing physical, psychological, and social challenges due to changes in appearance caused by cancer and its treatment, and their families, based on a comprehensive assessment from the time of diagnosis.”*² I was convinced that this was the type of treatment I wanted to offer.

*2: Cited from: National Cancer Center Hospital “What is Appearance Care?” (No translation needed)

－In 2020, you opened Appearance Beauty Clinic, which focuses on appearance care. What was your path to opening your clinic?

When I decided to pursue a career in appearance care, I didn’t immediately think about opening a practice. Instead, I recruited volunteers at Tokyo Metropolitan Cancer and Infectious Diseases Center Komagome Hospital and began working to promote the concept of appearance care with an aim of creating a one-stop appearance care center that can provide everything from treatment to care. However, things did not go smoothly at the hospital because it was a public medical institution that only provided medical treatment covered by health insurance. This made me decide to open my own clinic in order to offer my ideal medical care for patients. I first had to acquire knowledge and experience in beauty care. So, I learned various cosmetic medical techniques at a beauty clinic while preparing to open my own practice. Finally, I opened Appearance Beauty Clinic in 2020. Since then, I have been treating patients based on a belief of providing care that helps them, both cancer patients and non-cancer patients, pursue their own unique beauty. No one wants to get cancer. However, all cancer patients are proactively undergoing cancer treatment. That is why I want to provide patients through appearance care with new ways of thinking, new discoveries, different views, and new aspects of themselves that they could only learn by having cancer.

－In 2023, you took up the post of corporate advisor to TRYT Inc., a company that provides human resources services for the medical and welfare industries. This is a field far from cancer treatment and appearance care. Could you tell us why you decided to get involved?

Looking back on my experience, I feel that my life has been shaped by encounters with many people, including my family, colleagues, and patients. If we were to name the most precious thing in the world, it would definitely be people. By connecting such treasures and forming relationships, the human resources industry provides a wonderful service. That is why I decided to join TRYT. I would like to utilize the experience and knowledge I have cultivated so far to support everyone at TRYT, a company that plays an important role in the development of the medical and welfare industries.

－We hope that public awareness on appearance care will increase if the medical industry makes further efforts to promote it in the future. Please tell us your vision for the future.

Appearance care begins the moment you are diagnosed with cancer. However, appearance care in Japan is lagging behind the world, with a very low public awareness. In Western countries, the term ‘appearance care’ does not even exist in terms of medical care. Skin care and compensation for purchasing a wig are already part of cancer treatment. They are recognized and carried out as an important part of treatment. I would like people in Japan to become more aware of how cancer treatment affects appearance and how changes in appearance bring about changes to mental states of patients. Appearance can be said to be the outermost layer of a person’s inner self. It reflects what is really going on inside the person. I think it must be extremely distressing for patients who have been diagnosed with cancer to have their appearance changed as a result of treatment, especially in an already mentally stressful situation. I hope that appearance care will be recognized as a standard option and that we can live in a world where cancer patients can receive treatment with peace of mind. I am also hopeful that I can help promote the maturation of the entire medical industry so that high-quality appearance care can be provided.