Breast cancer has become very common in today’s world. Whether you felt a new breast lump or whether this is a radiologic biopsy-proven cancer, my office will guide you through the steps of treatment – be it surgery, radiation and/or chemotherapy. I work in concert with excellent radiologists, pathologists, medical and radiation oncologists and plastic surgeons that are very skilled in what they do. I will present your case at our multidisciplinary tumor board rounds in the presence of other experts to get the most wisdom on how to best treat your breast cancer. Treatment of breast cancer can be somewhat lengthy, but the results are often excellent.
Workup of breast lumps
Whether you feel a breast lump or your mammography or sonography speaks of an abnormality within the breast, I would meet with you first either in the office or the breast diagnostic center where I take a history and do a physical exam and review your imaging results. I will then arrange for you to have a breast biopsy. We will then meet again to discuss the results of biopsy and to plan for treatment. I send many of my patients with breast cancer for a head to toe radiological testing to make sure that the cancer is still localized to the breast and has not spread.
Details of surgery
Your operation will be under a general anesthetic and in most cases you will go home the same day. There is very little discomfort /pain from breast cancer surgery. This usually lasts for a couple of days. The operation is most commonly a lumpectomy (simply removal of the cancerous lump). In some cases when the cancer is not large enough to be felt within the breast, a tiny radioactive seed will be placed in the same spot as the cancer. This guides me during the operation and helps me remove the cancer in its entirety. Some patients need a sample of the lymph nodes from under the armpit to be removed. This is done with a technique known as the sentinel axillary lymph node biopsy for breast cancer. In this procedure, a radioactive isotope is injected around the tumor either the day before the operation or on the morning of your surgery. Later when you are asleep in the operating room , I will further inject a blue dye in the breast. These 2 injections help me identify the sentinel nodes. Both the breast lump and the sentinel lymph nodes are sent for pathology and help us in deciding whether additional treatment is required for you are not. In some cases, I offer my patients with breast cancer a mastectomy. Immediate breast reconstruction following a mastectomy is a very attractive option for most breast cancer patients. This is done by my colleagues with expertise in plastic and reconstructive surgery.
Complications from breast cancer surgery are rare. Bleeding. Infection. Wound complications. Some patients may require an additional operation.
Additional treatment for breast cancer
Most patients with breast cancer undergo surgery first followed by chemotherapy followed by radiation and hormonal treatment. However, some patients with breast cancer will benefit from a different strategy. Chemotherapy is given first, mostly to shrink the tumor. This allows for easier surgery. Radiation and other treatments are then administered following surgery. Its important to understand that every breast cancer patient is different. I taylor the treatment according to your individual tumor. Some breast cancer patient’s may not even need chemotherapy.
Genetic testing
Some patients with breast cancer benefit from genetic testing. This is a blood test where we look for certain genes known as BRCA. My office will arrange this for you if you are illegible.
