Breast Cancer
One in ten women and rarely men will develop breast cancer. Early diagnosis means better prognosis, since almost 90% of women will manage to overcome their problem if they are treated properly. Early diagnosis is the result of a well informed woman for signs of the disease, a regularly tested patient and the use of the right diagnostic method.
Recognizing and dealing with in situ carcinoma prevents the development of breast cancer.
The signs of breast cancer
A breast or armpit lump, breast irregularity, skin retraction, bloody nipple secretion and infection are the most common signs of breast cancer.
Diagnostic method
The breast surgeon should define the diagnostic tools and frequency of regular breast examination.
The decision make criteria are the existence of cancer risk factors, the age, the breast density, the findings of previous tests and some of the previous biopsies. The major breast cancer risk factor is heredity and the stronger it is, the regular breast examination should start in younger age and be performed more frequently and by all available tests.
Young age and great breast density necessitates on occasions the use of magnetic tomography of the breast together with ultrasound and digital mammography. Patients with previous biopsies for precancerous lesions need also more frequent testing.
In case of a suspicious lesion found on regular tests the breast surgeon should decide which is the best form of biopsy between fine needle aspiration(FNA) -cytology, core biopsy, mammotome, breast lesion excision system biopsy(BLES) – histology examination at the outpatients department and an open biopsy in theatre.
Treatment
It is the responsibility of the breast surgeon to offer the best management, which though will be decided at the multidisciplinary team meeting. In the MDT meetings participate breast surgeons, radiologists, oncologists, radiotherapists, pathologists and plastic surgeons. They decide for the appropriate operation, the need for any adjuvant treatment and in some occasions for the need of preoperative chemotherapy.
The most commonly performed operation for early breast cancer is lumpectomy and sentinel lymph node biopsy.
