Breast Health
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Breast cancer is the most
common form of cancer in women. Its frequency in the population compels
all women to follow a regular program of screening, including monthly
self-examination and yearly physical examination followed by
mammography. When any of these screening examinations reveals an
abnormality, surgical consultation is usually recommended. |
General
surgeons are the specialists who are formally trained in the diagnosis and
treatment of breast disorders, both benign and malignant. Their training
allows them to assess both physical and mammographic findings and
establish a treatment plan based upon objective criteria. There are many
benign diseases of the breast which a surgeon is trained to recognize.
These would include fibrocystic breast disease, benign nipple
discharges, skin lesions of the breast, breast infections and many
others.
When an abnormality
on screening exam is suspicious enough to warrant a biopsy, only a
surgeon skilled in the various biopsy techniques is capable of
determining which type of biopsy is optimal for a given patient. The
term biopsy implies the removal of part or all of an abnormal areas in
the breast to allow a pathologist to carefully examine this tissue under
the microscope. By no means does every patient referred to a surgeon
require a biopsy. Many patients are found to have abnormalities
requiring periodic reassessment for any sign of change. This decision is
the surgeon's primary responsibility.
Just as surgery has
become less invasive with time, so too have many forms of
minimally-invasive breast biopsy been developed. The surgeons at
Montclair Surgical Associates were among the first in Northern New
Jersey to offer stereotactic core biopsy to their patients almost ten
years ago. This minimally-invasive technique which requires only local
anesthesia, has since been further refined using the vacuum-assisted
device to replace open (surgical) breast biopsy for a large percentage
of cases requiring biopsy. Now an even less invasive ultrasound-guided
biopsy technique is being used in the office for appropriate cases.
National statistics
confirm that of all breast abnormalities deemed suspicious enough to
warrant biopsy, only twenty (20) to twenty five (25) percent will prove
to be malignancies. When such a result is encountered, a treatment plan
will be developed after frank and thorough discussion with the surgeon,
taking into account the characteristics of the disease, the patient's
overall health and the patient's personal preferences. The surgeons at
Montclair Surgical Associates, with their patient's consent, discuss
each positive biopsy at a multidisciplinary conference attended by
surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, and researchers to
assure that all treatment plans follow the practice guidelines published
yearly by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.
