Mastectomy

Brachytherapy is an increasingly popular option for women with early-stage breast cancer. After a lumpectomy to remove abnormal tissue, doctors insert either a series of tubes or a catheter attached to a small balloon into the breast. A radioactive source is then delivered to the surgical site, where it can kill off any remaining cancer cells within about 1 centimeter. After five days of treatment, the tubes or catheter can be removed. As this site from UCLA's Department of Radiation Oncology explains, brachytherapy allows doctors to irradiate the breast “from the inside out,” unlike the traditional method of applying radiation to the entire breast with an external beam.

Brachytherapy is an increasingly popular option for women with early-stage breast cancer. After a lumpectomy to remove abnormal tissue, doctors insert either a series of tubes or a catheter attached to a small balloon into the breast. A radioactive source is then delivered to the surgical site, where it can kill off any remaining cancer cells within about 1 centimeter. After five days of treatment, the tubes or catheter can be removed. As this site from UCLA's Department of Radiation Oncology explains, brachytherapy allows doctors to irradiate the breast “from the inside out,” unlike the traditional method of applying radiation to the entire breast with an external beam.

TV personality Giuliana Rancic announced Monday she's decided to have a double mastectomy after undergoing a double lumpectomy for breast cancer. Rancic's husband Bill told the "Today" show that despite having the lumpectomies not all cancer cells were eradicated. That prompted the decision to forgo yet another lumpectomy and radiation and try a more drastic approach. Whether or not a woman decides to under go a double, or contralateral, mastectomy depends on a number of factors, said Dr. Gregory Senofsky, breast cancer surgeon and assistant director of the Margie Petersen Breast Center at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica.

TV personality Giuliana Rancic announced Monday she's decided to have a double mastectomy after undergoing a double lumpectomy for breast cancer. Rancic's husband Bill told the "Today" show that despite having the lumpectomies not all cancer cells were eradicated. That prompted the decision to forgo yet another lumpectomy and radiation and try a more drastic approach. Whether or not a woman decides to under go a double, or contralateral, mastectomy depends on a number of factors, said Dr. Gregory Senofsky, breast cancer surgeon and assistant director of the Margie Petersen Breast Center at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica.

Pink ribbons, really anything pink, have become powerful symbols in the fight against breast cancer in which women need to be on the lookout for early signs of the disease. But what about men? This year an estimated 210,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer — a diagnosis 2,000 men also will receive, according to a story in the Chicago Tribune. "It never occurs to men that we can get breast cancer," said Val Lucier, who had a fast-growing cancer and underwent a mastectomy.

Radiation after a mastectomy for advanced breast cancer is part of the standard treatment guidelines. But more than a decade after the lifesaving value of radiation was confirmed, about half of all women who should get radiation therapy aren't getting it, researchers reported Monday. In the mid-1990s, several studies confirmed that mastectomy patients with advanced breast cancer have better outcomes if they undergo radiation after surgery. Initially, the medical community seemed to pay attention to the findings.

The state's attorney general, who is also the front-running Democratic candidate for governor, was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a mastectomy, a spokesman said Friday. Christine Gregoire, 56, underwent surgery Thursday and was released from a hospital Friday, said attorney general spokesman Fred Olson. A lump was found in Gregoire's left breast during a recent mammogram and the breast was removed by surgeons.

A managed-care trade group tried to defuse growing criticism and the threat of federal legislation by recommending that health plans allow an overnight hospital stay for women who have a breast removed for cancer. All 1,000 members of the American Assn. of Health Plans--which includes nearly all of the nation's HMOs--pledged to abide by the recommendation against requiring mastectomies to be performed as outpatient procedures, the organization announced.

A growing number of women with early-stage breast cancer seem to be choosing to have the whole breast removed instead of just the cancerous lump, a Mayo Clinic study of about 5,500 women found. Mastectomies were standard treatment until 1990, when studies showed that women whose cancers were small and confined to the breast did just as well if they had less radical surgery followed by radiation. Researchers are not sure what is responsible for the new trend, but speculate that newer tests like MRI scans are finding more cancers, or flagging so many suspicious spots that women want the breast removed for peace of mind.

"Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy," a Lifetime docudrama, Oct. 23. The premise: Geralyn Lucas is just beginning a job when she's diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 27. The non-invasive cancer has an extensive intraductal component involving three separate areas of her breast. After debating whether to have a lumpectomy or a mastectomy, she chooses the latter, with adjuvant chemotherapy.

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Monday. Giuliana Rancic is getting a double mastectomy after a two lumpectomies failed to eradicate her breast cancer. ( Huffington Post ) Kennedy Center Honors recipient Neil Diamond led President Obama,  Meryl Streep, Yo-Yo Ma, Barbara Cook, Sonny Rollins and more in a Kennedy Center Honors sing-along of "Sweet Caroline. " ( Los Angeles Times ) Madonna will perform in the Super Bowl halftime show. ( Los Angeles Times )

Breast cancer is no longer considered a single disease. New molecular tools are allowing doctors to see what is going on inside tumors with much greater accuracy, enabling them to tailor their therapeutic approach to fit the traits of each cancer and the needs of each patient, as the women below illustrate. Sailing through Name: Caryl Engstrom Current age: 51 Home: Los Angeles Diagnosis: Stage 2B breast cancer that was ER-positive Age at diagnosis: 49 Engstrom had a mastectomy, followed by five months of a combination chemotherapy known as ACT (which includes the drugs Adriamycin, Cytoxan and Taxotere)

Wanda Sykes has revealed to talk show host Ellen DeGeneres that she had a double mastectomy this year after doctors found evidence of early-stage breast cancer in her left breast. As she explains on the program set to air on Monday, it all started with routine breast-reduction surgery. But then pathologists discovered that she had ductal carcinoma in situ, also known as DCIS. “I was very, very lucky, because DCIS is basically stage zero cancer,” Sykes told DeGeneres.

Radiation after a mastectomy for advanced breast cancer is part of the standard treatment guidelines. But more than a decade after the lifesaving value of radiation was confirmed, about half of all women who should get radiation therapy aren't getting it, researchers reported Monday. In the mid-1990s, several studies confirmed that mastectomy patients with advanced breast cancer have better outcomes if they undergo radiation after surgery. Initially, the medical community seemed to pay attention to the findings.

Location, location, location. It affects much more than home prices. It also appears to influence whether you have elective surgery. Data collected on Medicare patients across the country found that the number of such surgeries varies widely by region. The numbers, from 2003 through 2007, included rates of bypass surgery, gall bladder removal, back surgery and other procedures offered to patients as an option. The report was released Thursday by the Dartmouth Atlas Project and the Foundation for Informed Medical Decisions.

Annual mammograms: Have you had yours lately? For women in their 40s, a new study suggests that annual mammograms may reduce the risk of having a mastectomy. Preliminary findings of a British study of 971 women between 40 and 50 years old who had been diagnosed with breast cancer were presented Thursday at the annual Radiological Society of North America meeting in Chicago. For those who had had a mammogram in the prior year, only 19% were treated with a mastectomy. However, 46% of the women who weren’t screened had a mastectomy, the study says.

Most women at high risk for breast cancer who chose to have both healthy breasts removed in the hope of averting the disease are satisfied with their decision, according to a survey released Wednesday. Nearly three-fourths of the women were satisfied with their sexual relationships after the surgery. More than two-thirds said the surgery either did not affect or had a favorable effect on their feelings of femininity. Satisfaction levels did not fluctuate with the age of the women.

For National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, St. Joseph Medical Center released its own statistics showing that between 1987 and 1992, more than 71% of the women seen at the center with early breast cancers were treated with breast conservation and radiation therapy. These therapies--in which only the tumor and a portion of surrounding tissue are removed--are seen as alternatives to radical mastectomies, in which most or all of the breast is removed.

Pink ribbons, really anything pink, have become powerful symbols in the fight against breast cancer in which women need to be on the lookout for early signs of the disease. But what about men? This year an estimated 210,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer — a diagnosis 2,000 men also will receive, according to a story in the Chicago Tribune. "It never occurs to men that we can get breast cancer," said Val Lucier, who had a fast-growing cancer and underwent a mastectomy.

The choice to remove a healthy breast in order to avoid breast cancer is a deeply personal decision -- one that appears to be on the upswing in a specific segment of cancer patients, although there's little evidence to suggest it improves survival. A study published Monday in the journal Cancer found that among women who had cancer in one breast, the number who opted to have the other breast removed, called contralateral prophylactic mastectomy, increased from 1995 through 2005 in New York state.