Research News on Surgery
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Women Who Choose Mastectomy Have Good Reasons for Choice
While greater numbers of women are choosing mastectomy instead of lumpectomy followed by radiation therapy to treat early-stage breast cancer, research suggests that these women have good reasons for their choice.
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Younger Women More Likely to Have DCIS Recurrence
A new study suggests that younger women (under 45) who have lumpectomy and radiation therapy to treat DCIS are more likely to have the breast cancer come back (recurrence) compared to older women who had the same treatment.
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Number of Women Choosing Protective Mastectomy Increases
An increasing number of women are making the decision to have prophylactic mastectomy to reduce the risk of breast cancer.
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Surgery to Remove Metastatic Breast Cancer Improves Survival
Women with metastatic breast cancer at first diagnosis who had the breast tumor (the primary tumor) removed lived twice as long as women diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer who didn't have the primary tumor removed.
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Isolated Cancer Cells in Lymph Nodes Need Treatment After Surgery
Women diagnosed with node-negative, early-stage breast cancer -- but with isolated cancer cells in the sentinel lymph node -- were 56% less likely to survive without the breast cancer coming back in the 5 years after treatment compared to women who were truly node negative (no cancer cells at all in the sentinel lymph node). This suggests that women diagnosed with isolated cancer cells in the sentinel node should be treated as if the cancer is node-positive.
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Strength Training Doesn’t Worsen Lymphedema, May Actually Help
A small study found that strength training doesn't worsen lymphedema after breast cancer surgery and actually can help reduce the symptoms associated with lymphedema as well as the risk of lymphedema flare-ups.
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Adding Local Anesthetic to Tracer Liquid Injection Reduces Pain During Sentinel Lymph Node Surgery
Adding the local anesthetic lidocaine (a numbing medicine) to the tracer liquid used in sentinel lymph node biopsy can reduce pain during and after the injection. The lidocaine causes few side effects and doesn't interfere with the procedure's success.
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New Imaging Device Shows Promise for Assessing Margins at Time of Surgery
An experimental imaging device may some day offer almost instant analysis of tumor margins during lumpectomy.
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Number of Women Having Double Mastectomy After DCIS Diagnosis Triples
The number of women who decided to have both breasts removed after being diagnosed with DCIS more than tripled between 1998 and 2005, but it's unclear why this increase is happening.
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Controversial Microsurgery May Ease Lymphedema, but Long-Term Results aren’t Certain
A very small study shows that lymphaticovenular bypass surgery can ease lymphedema, but the procedure requires special training and is controversial because it may make lymphedema worse if done by an inexperienced surgeon, and it's unclear if the benefits last over time.
