New Advancements in Early Breast Cancer Treatment:

A new advance in early breast cancer treatment is now available to newly diagnosed breast cancer patients who are considering undergoing a lumpectomy as a part of their therapy. Patients have traditionally been offered either a mastectomy (removal of the entire breast) or a lumpectomy (removal of only the cancerous part of the breast) as the two surgical treatment options for breast cancer. Improved mammographic screening has recently led to earlier breast cancer detection. Forty percent of breast cancers are now detected as a small suspicious abnormality on a mammogram, before it becomes a palpable lump. Until recently, patients with these small cancers who desired a lumpectomy for treatment still ended up having a lemon sized piece of tissue removed from their breast during surgery. We can now offer a new option to these patients, one which removes much less tissue and is therefore less deforming.

A special type of mammogram table is called a stereotactic breast biopsy table has been used to do breast biopsies for the last ten years. It has, up until now, been used to do a special type of breast biopsy called an ABBI (Advanced Breast Biopsy Instrumentation) procedure. The patient lies comfortably on her stomach on the table, her breast hanging through a hole in the table. Mammogram paddles gently compress the breast. X-rays are taken. The mammograhically suspicious area is identified. The patient is given local anesthesia and the suspicious area is removed using a special cutting tube called an ABBI cannula. The entire procedure lasts about one hour. It is done through a one inch incision removing tissue only the size of a wine cork. Healing is rapid. There is a little, if any, breast deformity.

The procedure has just become available to newly diagnosed breast cancer patients as part of their surgical treatment. Patients would qualify for this treatment if their cancers are small, nonpalpable, and are identified as a cancerous abnormality on their mammogram. Patients are asked to enroll as part on an international multi-institution trail headed by the Moffitt Cancer Center at the University of Southern Florida. Drs. Barbara Schwartzberg, Joyce Moore, and Lisa  Weinstein at Rose Medical Center, with its excellent international reputation in breast cancer care, have been asked to participate in this trial. Additional breast cancer treatment options and requirements, such as a sentinel lymph node analysis, and axillary lymph node sampling, and radiation therapy, should be discussed with these physicians before making a final decision about treatment.

Please call 303-320-7826 or check out our web site at www.westernsurgicalcare.com for more information about this exciting new breast cancer treatment option.