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.
Lymphadenectomy, or lymph node dissection, is the surgical removal of one or more groups of lymph nodes. It is almost always performed as part of the surgical management of cancer. In a regional lymph node dissection, some of the lymph nodes in the tumor area are removed; in a radical lymph node dissection, most or all of the lymph nodes in the tumor area are removed.
The sentinel lymph node is the hypothetical first lymph node or group of nodes draining a cancer. In case of established cancerous dissemination it is postulated that the sentinel lymph nodes are the target organs primarily reached by metastasizing cancer cells from the tumor.
Radical mastectomy is a surgical procedure that treats breast cancer by removing the breast and its underlying chest muscle, and lymph nodes of the axilla (armpit). Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women. During the early twentieth century it was primarily treated by surgery, when the mastectomy was developed. However, with the advancement of technology and surgical skills in recent years, mastectomies have become less invasive. As of 2016, a combination of radiotherapy and breast conserving mastectomy are considered optimal treatment.
Umberto Veronesi was an Italian oncologist, physician, scientist and politician, internationally known for his contributions on prevention and treatment of breast cancer throughout a career spanning over fifty years.
Breast cancer management takes different approaches depending on physical and biological characteristics of the disease, as well as the age, over-all health and personal preferences of the patient. Treatment types can be classified into local therapy and systemic treatment. Local therapy is most efficacious in early stage breast cancer, while systemic therapy is generally justified in advanced and metastatic disease, or in diseases with specific phenotypes.
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.
Male breast cancer (MBC) is a cancer in males that originates in their breasts. Males account for less than 1% of new breast cancers with about 20,000 new cases being diagnosed worldwide every year. Its incidence rates in males vs. females are, respectively, 0.4 and 66.7 per 100,000 person-years. The worldwide incidences of male as well as female breast cancers have been increasing over the last few decades. Currently, one of every 800 men are estimated to develop this cancer during their lifetimes.
Professor Gordon C. Wishart FRCS (Eng.) FRCS (Gen.) is the founder, Chief Medical Officer, and CEO of Check4Cancer, an early cancer detection and prevention company. In 2016, Check4Cancer launched rapid access, streamlined, and audited diagnostic pathways for breast and skin cancer for the insured and self-pay markets, leading to the award of “Diagnostic Provider of the Year” at the annual Health Investor Awards in 2018. In late 2017, Check4Cancer launched the first worldwide breast cancer risk test to combine genetic, family history, and lifestyle risk factors to underpin a risk-stratified breast screening programme.
A gamma probe is a handheld device containing a scintillation counter for intraoperative use following injection of a radionuclide to locate sentinel lymph nodes by their radioactivity. It is used primarily for sentinel lymph node mapping and parathyroid surgery. Gamma probes are also used for RSL to locate small and non-palpable breast lesions.
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.
Donald Lee Morton was an American surgical oncologist who was best known for developing sentinel lymph node evaluation, a procedure that, by some estimates, saves the U.S. healthcare system nearly $4 billion annually in the treatment of melanoma and breast cancer. At the time of his death, he was Chief of the melanoma program and co-director of the surgical oncology fellowship program at the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, California, now known as Saint John’s Cancer Institute. He published in excess of 600 articles in peer reviewed journals and received funding for his research from the National Institutes of Health for 35 years. Dr. Morton trained more than 100 postdoctoral fellows, most of whom hold academic positions in medical schools or cancer institutes.
Sonja Eva Singletary was an American surgeon who specialized in the care of breast cancer. She was a faculty member at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and a past president of the Society of Surgical Oncology.
Endomag is a medical device manufacturer, headquartered in Cambridge, UK, with a US office in Austin, Texas. Originally incorporated as Endomagnetics Ltd, the company was founded in 2007 and produces surgical guidance products which assist surgeons in locating and removing cancerous tumors, predominantly for breast cancer surgery. The company's products are distributed by Leica Biosystems in North America and Sysmex Corporation across Europe.
Elisa Rush Port FACS is Associate Professor of Surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, as well as cofounder and director of the Dubin Breast Center at the Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai Health System, since 2010. She has received four research grants, has served as an investigator or co-investigator on 15 clinical trials, published 44 peer-reviewed articles, and published a total of 12 book chapters and books. She has specialized in sentinel-node biopsy, a diagnostic method that determines cancer stages based on spread to regional lymph nodes, nipple sparing mastectomy, and the use of MRI for breast cancer.
Sandeep Nayak is an Indian surgical oncologist based in Bangalore, India, known as the pioneer of robotic thyroidectomy technique called RABIT and Minimally Invasive Neck Dissection. He is the founder of MACS Clinic, Bangalore. He is the Senior Director and the Head of Department of surgical oncology at Fortis Hospital, Bangalore. Nayak was recipient of the KS International Innovation Award for his technique of RIA-MIND andTimes Health Excellence Award for 2018 by The Times of India. Nayak is the member of Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and American Society of Clinical Oncology. He has previously held the position of the assistant professor at Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology from 2012 to 2017. Nayak has been constantly ranked among the top oncologists in India
Emilia Dauway MD, FACS, FRACS is an American trained surgeon who is practicing general, breast and oncologic surgery in Australia. Dauway was co-inventor of the use of radioactive seeds in the breast to localise non-palpable breast cancers and the first in Australia to use magnetic seeds instead of radioactive seeds. This technique replaces hookwire or needle localisation improving patient safety, outcomes and satisfaction. The method was patented by the University of South Florida while Dauway was a fellow of surgical oncology. The method has been used since 1999 and has improved with the development of modern equipment. Dauway is also a Yoga Instructor, a Keynote speaker and is founder/director of Restore More, a non-profit initiative which provides education and funding to women in regional and geographically disadvantaged areas for breast cancer treatment and reconstruction.
Armando Elario Giuliano is a surgical oncologist, surgeon scientist and medical professor in Los Angeles, California, United States of America. He is the Linda and Jim Lippman Chair in Surgical Oncology and co-director of Saul and Joyce Brandman Breast Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles.
Herbert Lumley Snow was an English surgeon, anti-vivisectionist, cancer researcher and medical writer.
Somashekhar SP is an Indian robotic surgeon, author and chairman of medical advisory board at Aster DM Healthcare - GCC & India. He is also the global director of Aster International Institute of Oncology in GCC & India. He is the president of the Association of Breast Surgeons of India, editor in chief of the IJGO Springer Indian Journal of Gynec Oncology and council member of The Association of Surgeons of India. He is also the editor of Annals of Breast Diseases.
