Surgical Management
Lumpectomy
A lumpectomy removes only the cancerous mass and a small amount of surrounding tissue in order to attain clear margins. With a lumpectomy, the breast tissue is either closed or reconstructed to attain a good cosmetic result known as oncoplastic surgery for a patient who will not receive radiation or for patients receiving whole breast radiation. For patients that have opted for partial breast radiation, the cavity will be left unreconstructed in order to accommodate the future introduction of a radiation balloon device for the delivery of radiation known as brachytherapy.
Mastectomy including Nipple Areola Sparing
Simple - this mastectomy is the removal of all the breast tissue including the skin. Under certain circumstances, the lymph nodes could be removed making the simple mastectomy a modified radical mastectomy.
Nipple - areola sparing or skin sparing mastectomy - this mastectomy removes all the breast tissue as in the simple mastectomy but "sparing" the nipple / areola complex. Most times this particular mastectomy is usually accompanied by immediate reconstruction (known as one step mastectomy and reconstruction).
Intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT)
We now offer Intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) at Good Sam! IORT is a new treatment option that is designed to save time and reduce radiation exposure for breast cancer patients. Check out these photos for an inside look of our IORT team doing a run-through of the process!
SLN (Sentinel Lymph Node) Biopsy
This procedure is usually performed at the time of a lumpectomy or mastectomy to rule out the spread of the breast cancer to surrounding lymphatic vessels. A negative SLN means that the breast cancer has not spread to the lymphatic system. A positive node confirms the spread and the need for possible chemotherapy. If the sentinel node is positive, other nodes are sampled for metastatis. If more nodes are confirmed, then a complete axillary node dissection may be indicated.
