Surgery Breast
The findings, and status of these lymph glands, in respect to cancer involving them, is the most important determining factor for further care of patients. Some complementary laboratory tests are also performed on the cancer tissue in order to determine the presence or absence of receptor molecules to Estrogen (ER) or Progesterone (PR) (female sex hormones) as well as genetic and chromosome studies.
Mastectomy is complete removal of one breast and some surrounding tissues. This is done under general anesthesia and in a hospital setting.
Lumpectomy is partial removal of the breast tissue that contains the cancer, whereby most of the breast architecture is preserved. Since some cancer cells may be left behind with this procedure, the reminder of the breast has to be treated with radiation to achieve similar results as with Mastectomy.
Sentinel lymph node biopsy followed by surgery
Sentinel lymph node biopsy is the removal of the sentinel lymph node during surgery. The sentinel lymph node is the first lymph node to receive lymphatic drainage from a tumor. It is the first lymph node the cancer is likely to spread to from the tumor. A radioactive substance and/or blue dye is injected near the tumor. The substance or dye flows through the lymph ducts to the lymph nodes.
The first lymph node to receive the substance or dye is removed. A pathologist views the tissue under a microscope to look for cancer cells. If cancer cells are not found, it may not be necessary to remove more lymph nodes. After the sentinel lymph node biopsy, the surgeon removes the tumor (breast conserving surgery or mastectomy).
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