More breast cancer patients can choose smaller surgery
A new breast cancer study finds many women with two or three breast tumors can get by with lumpectomy surgery instead of having their whole breast removed
Many women with two or three breast tumors can get by with lumpectomy surgery instead of having their whole breast removed, a new study suggests.
In recent years, more patients with multiple tumors have been identified, a result of more sensitive imaging techniques that can reveal tiny, once-hidden cancers. That means more patients are being diagnosed with multiple cancer sites in the same breast.
In the past, doctors would say these women needed mastectomies. Researchers wanted to know: Was this dogma still true?
They followed nearly 200 women with two or three tumors in one breast who had lumpectomies followed by radiation. The patients ranged in age from 40 to 87. To take part in the study, their tumors had to be less than 5 centimeters and separated by 2 to 3 centimeters of normal breast tissue.
