Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. A mastectomy is usually carried out to treat breast cancer. In some cases, women believed to be at high risk of breast cancer have the operation as a preventive measure. Alternatively, some women can choose to have a wide local excision, also known as a lumpectomy, an operation in which a small volume of breast tissue containing the tumor and a surrounding margin of healthy tissue is removed to conserve the breast. Both mastectomy and lumpectomy are referred to as "local therapies" for breast cancer, targeting the area of the tumor, as opposed to systemic therapies, such as chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, or immunotherapy.
William John Neeson is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed seventh on The Irish Times list of Ireland's 50 Greatest Film Actors. Neeson was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2000.
Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a red or scaly patch of skin. In those with distant spread of the disease, there may be bone pain, swollen lymph nodes, shortness of breath, or yellow skin.
Lynn Rachel Redgrave was a British-American actress. She won two Golden Globe Awards during her career.
Laura Leggett Linney is an American actress. She is the recipient of several awards, including two Golden Globe Awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards, and has been nominated for three Academy Awards and five Tony Awards.
Embeth Jean Davidtz is an American-South African actress and director. She's appeared in movies such as Army of Darkness, Schindler's List, Matilda, Fallen,Mansfield Park, Bicentennial Man, Bridget Jones's Diary,Junebug,Fracture,The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,The Amazing Spider-Man,The Amazing Spider-Man 2,Old, and Not Okay, and in the television series In Treatment, Californication, Mad Men, Grey's Anatomy, Ray Donovan, and The Morning Show.
Tracy Kristine Nelson is an American actress. From a long line of entertainers, she is the daughter of musician Ricky Nelson and actress and painter Kristin Nelson.
Lumpectomy is a surgical removal of a discrete portion or "lump" of breast tissue, usually in the treatment of a malignant tumor or breast cancer. It is considered a viable breast conservation therapy, as the amount of tissue removed is limited compared to a full-breast mastectomy, and thus may have physical and emotional advantages over more disfiguring treatment. Sometimes a lumpectomy may be used to either confirm or rule out that cancer has actually been detected. A lumpectomy is usually recommended to patients whose cancer has been detected early and who do not have enlarged tumors. Although a lumpectomy is used to allow for most of the breast to remain intact, the procedure may result in adverse affects that can include sensitivity and result in scar tissue, pain, and possible disfiguration of the breast if the lump taken out is significant. According to National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines, lumpectomy may be performed for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), invasive ductal carcinoma, or other conditions.
Adjuvant therapy, also known as adjunct therapy, adjuvant care, or augmentation therapy, is a therapy that is given in addition to the primary or initial therapy to maximize its effectiveness. The surgeries and complex treatment regimens used in cancer therapy have led the term to be used mainly to describe adjuvant cancer treatments. An example of such adjuvant therapy is the additional treatment usually given after surgery where all detectable disease has been removed, but where there remains a statistical risk of relapse due to the presence of undetected disease. If known disease is left behind following surgery, then further treatment is not technically adjuvant.
The U.S. Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act, also known as Janet's Law, signed into law on October 21, 1998 as part of the 1999 omnibus bill, contains protections for patients who elect breast reconstruction in connection with a mastectomy. This law, which is administered by the Department of Labor and Health and Human Services, states that group health plans, insurance companies, and health maintenance organizations (HMOs) must provide coverage for reconstructive surgery after mastectomy for breast cancer and prohibited "drive-through" mastectomies, where breast cancer patient's hospital stays were limited by their carriers. The required coverage includes all stages of reconstruction of the breast on which the mastectomy was performed, surgery and reconstruction of the other breast to produce a symmetrical appearance, prostheses, and treatment of physical complications of the mastectomy, including lymphedema.
Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy is a 2006 television film that aired on Lifetime Television and starred Sarah Chalke. It is based on the memoir of the same name, written by Geralyn Lucas. The book and the TV movie depict Geralyn Lucas's fight with breast cancer.
Breast-conserving surgery refers to an operation that aims to remove breast cancer while avoiding a mastectomy. Different forms of this operation include: lumpectomy (tylectomy), wide local excision, segmental resection, and quadrantectomy. Breast-conserving surgery has been increasingly accepted as an alternative to mastectomy in specific patients, as it provides tumor removal while maintaining an acceptable cosmetic outcome. This page reviews the history of this operation, important considerations in decision making and patient selection, and the emerging field of oncoplastic breast conservation surgery.
Brenda Walker is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Lesley Dunlop. She made her first appearance on 2 April 2008. She was introduced as the adoptive mother to Gennie Walker. In 2013, Brenda was diagnosed with a brain tumour, one of the character's biggest storylines.
Rose Rehert Kushner was an American journalist and pioneering advocate for breast cancer patients. She wrote the 1975 book Why Me? What Every Woman Should Know About Breast Cancer to Save Her Life.
Bernard Fisher was an American surgeon and a pioneer in the biology and treatment of breast cancer. He was a native of Pittsburgh. He was Chairman of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast Project at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. His work established definitively that early-stage breast cancer could be more effectively treated by lumpectomy, in combination with radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and/or hormonal therapy, than by radical mastectomy.
Kristi Funk is an American breast cancer surgeon known for her surgical treatment of celebrities Angelina Jolie and Sheryl Crow and her advocacy of whole-food plant-based nutrition.
Eleanor D. Montague was an American radiologist and educator who established breast-conserving therapy in the United States and improved radiation therapy techniques. She became a member of the Texas Women's Hall of Fame in 1993.
Mum is a British sitcom written by Stefan Golaszewski that centred on the recently widowed, suburban 59-year-old Cathy and her family, following her husband's death, airing on BBC Two from 2016–2019. Each episode is named after a calendar month in the year, except series three which is set over just one week. The series features Cathy's supportive lifelong friend, Michael, and her family: son Jason and his girlfriend, Kelly; Cathy's brother, Derek, and his new partner, Pauline; and Cathy's in-laws.
Lisa Barros D'Sa is a film director, writer and producer. Barros D'Sa studied English at University of Oxford and holds an MA in Screenwriting from London University of the Arts.
The 16th Irish Film & Television Academy Awards took place on 18 October 2020. Because no ceremony was held in 2019, this ceremony honoured films and television drama released in both 2018 and 2019. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no physical ceremony took place; instead, there was a "virtual ceremony" hosted by Deirdre O’Kane.
