What is the Difference Between a Mastectomy and Lumpectomy?

Receiving a diagnosis of breast cancer can not only be devastating, emotionally, it can also lead to a variety of other physical health concerns. Being in control of what is going to happen to your body following a diagnosis of breast cancer is vital for your emotional wellness and wellbeing, and so it is important to read up on your treatment and understand as much as you possibly can.

 

When a tumour is diagnosed, doctors will generally decide that it has to be removed. What doctors have to decide, however, is whether to remove the entire breast, or just a small amount of tissue. When a tumour and small amount of surrounding tissue is removed, this is known as a lumpectomy. When the entire breast is removed, this is known as a mastectomy.

 

Research has shown that with stage one or two breast cancer, the outcomes for lumpectomy and mastectomy surgery (plus radiation) are the same, so the choice may well be up to you.

 

When a lumpectomy is performed, the surgeon only removes the tumour plus a margin of surrounding tissue. The aim is to create something called ‘clean margins’ – meaning that when tested, the tissue around the removed area shows up as being clear of cancer. If this does not occur, further surgery will then be required to remove more tissue or to do a mastectomy.

 

Following a lumpectomy, patients are almost always given several weeks of radiation therapy, in order to kill any remaining cells. There may also be chemotherapy after the surgery, which is known as adjuvant chemotherapy. Sometimes chemo is given before surgery (neoadjuvant chemo) in order to reduce the size of the tumour before going in for a surgical removal.

 

Both lumpectomy and mastectomy surgery has some risks, and your doctor will be able to advise you on issues such as pain medication and surgical dressings.

Categories: Breast, breast cancer, entire breast, lumpectomy, mastectomy, mastectomy nbsp, mastectomy surgery, nbsp, surrounding tissue

Student Device Could Revolutionise Breast Cancer Surgery

Students in America have developed a pioneering device that could slash the amount of lumpectomies in half. When your wellness is affected by breast cancer, you may need to undergo a lumpectomy so that the doctors can remove your cancer cells. However, because of the high fat content of the samples, your doctor won’t be able to scan tissue to check that all cancerous cells have been removed, but the new device is set to change this.

Designed by Johns Hopkins University, the device attaches an adhesive film to your breast tissue, so that pathologists can scan samples within 20 minutes of surgery. This means that,  if you do indeed still have cancerous cells, your doctor can remove them while you’re still on the table, and so you won’t need to put your wellbeing through second or third follow-up operations. As it stands, it can take days for samples to be scanned, which can also cause delays in other treatments like radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

With most tumours, a pathologist can flash-freeze the tissue and slice off paper-thin samples for microscopic examination. Then, if cancer cells are seen to extend to the outer edge or margin of a sample, the surgeon can remove more tissue from the patient. Because of breast tissue’s high fat content, it does not freeze well and this causes the samples to smear, form gaps and become unsuitable for a quick review. However, by applying a film before the tissue is sliced, the new device holds the delicate tissue together and prevents damage to the samples during the slicing process.

According to student inventor Hector Neira from Maryland, ‘We spoke to breast cancer surgeons. They told us that they are desperate for something that will allow them to remove the tumour in its entirety the first time, so that the patient doesn’t have to come back for a second surgery.’ So the device was born, which has now been tested on animal tissue and human breast samples from a tissue bank. While the device is still in its prototype stage, and it is yet to be used on patients, the students hope to give breast cancer patients the same rapid review that commonly occurs when other tumours are removed.

One of the inventors Anjana Sinha of Princeton, New Jersey, commented, ‘We’re not doing it for the money. We want to improve healthcare practices and raise the standard of care for these breast cancer patients. Why can’t they get the same type of quick results that people with other types of cancer receive?’ Melissa Camp, a Johns Hopkins assistant professor of surgery who worked with the team, added, ‘I think the students…are addressing a very real need in the field of breast cancer surgery. Accurate assessment of margin status during the initial operation will lead to fewer re-operations, and this will be beneficial for patients in many respects. I look forward to their continued work!’

Categories: breast cancer, Device, lumpectomy