Breast Cancer Surgery

Breast Cancer Surgery remains efficient one in the removal of the cancerous tumor, although many different treatment methods have been tested along the years. As with most other forms of cancer, breast cancer can’t simply be “treated” like an ordinary disease, through medication, therapy or the likes. Because it’s such a severe condition and because it has a more destructive negative effect with each passing day that you let it grow, breast cancer needs to be treated in the same aggressive parameters.

Prior to jumping in to describe what breast cancer surgery is all about, we need to stress on the fact that the sooner the tumor is found, the higher the chances of the surgery being successful and effective. If the tumor grows ahead of a certain size, it might be either too risky to take out through Breast Cancer surgery, or it might have spread to a larger area where an efficient “cleaning” of the cancerous cells after the surgery is simply impossible.

That is why; finding the tumor through the various available breast cancer screening methods of today (including mammography and self-examination) is considered equally crucial as the surgery itself.

There are different types of breast cancer surgeries, the one a patient needs to undertake depending heavily on the stage the tumor has reached and its type and size.

Breast Cancer Surgery: Lumpectomy

A lumpectomy involves the cancerous tissues and surrounding normal tissue being removed. The lymph nodes in the armpit are usually sampled at the same time. This is almost always done together with other treatment therapies such as chemotherapy, radiation or hormone therapy.

For example, if found in a premature stage, the surgery might consist of a simply lumpectomy (the removal of the cancerous lump), if the doctor is certain the disease has not spread in the neighboring tissue.

Mastectomy

If this is not the case, and the disease has spread in the entire breast, or if the tumor is in an advanced state, the patient might be required to undergo a mastectomy that is the surgical removal of the entire breast. Some higher risks are comprised in this operation and in many cases, even if the operation succeeds and the tumor is eliminated, the patients might face problems of a psychological nature, regarding their aesthetical aspect.

A simple mastectomy involves the removal of the entire breast. If the cancer is of the invasive type, then surgery cannot cure it alone. A simple mastectomy is usually used to treat the non-invasive types of cancer. If the cancer is invasive, then other treatments such as chemotherapy have to be given.

Radical Mastectomy

Modified radical mastectomy consists of the removing the breast and the underarm lymph nodes (axillary) but not the muscle in the chest wall. Additional hormone or chemotherapy is usually offered although the surgery alone is considered to be adequate to control the breast cancer as long as it has not metastasized.

A radical mastectomy involves the removal of the breast, the chest wall muscles which underlie the breast and the contents of the underarm. This type of surgery is no longer performed as there are current therapies available which are less disfiguring and with fewer complications.

Those who have been diagnosed with breast cancer will require close follow-up for the rest of their life. The initial follow up will usually be every 3-6 months during the first 2-3 years. It consists of close breast examination, an annual mammography, blood testing and on some occasions, a chest x-ray. Other tests may include CT scans or bone scans and are performed when required.

Hereditary Breast Cancer

Those who have had a mother, sister or daughter diagnosed with breast cancer should be screen on an annual basis as they are considered to be at risk.

Prophylactic Mastectomy

A woman at a considerably high risk of developing breast cancer may have a prophylactic mastectomy as prevention. All women who are 20 years and older are strongly recommended examining their breasts on a monthly basis. The best time to self examine the breasts is immediately following a period.

Those who are not menstruating or who are irregular with their periods should choose a certain date in the month. Your healthcare provider can provide you with advice upon how to examine your breasts. Alternatively there is a wide variety of promotional material available to assist you, which you can pick up at your local surgery or pharmacy.

Radiation Therapy or Chemotherapy

Sometimes, surgical tumor removals are not entirely successful. Setting the operation margins where the tissue is clear of cancerous cells is a standard practice for the surgical staff and this is usually determined by an estimation based on the size of the tumor, x-ray images and biopsy tests.

None is 100% effective, so in some cases, cancerous cells still exist even after the removal of the tissue. If the area containing them is large, then further operations might be required, but in most cases, these last diseased cells can be treated with either radiation therapy or chemotherapy.

To conclude, although it has some rather important disadvantages, breast cancer surgery is the only feasible treatment for such a disease. With the help of some of the aforementioned additional treatment methods, the effectiveness of a surgical intervention is even higher, but, as it’s the case with most diseases (and especially with cancer, which can’t be effectively treated by traditional medication) regular screening and taking preventive measures are two tremendously important steps that can make the difference later on.

The Recommendation by American Cancer Society

The American Cancer Society recommends that every women 20 years and older has a breast examination by a health care professional every three years and annually after the age of 40 years. From the age of 40 years, mammograms are recommended every 1-2 years.